This is a welcome clarification from the Minister and should help to allay some of the extreme anxiety that was created at a local level by the initial announcement of the cut.

However the fundamental problems presented by the cut are a long way from resolution. Firstly, because the overall intention to reduce the budget has not gone away and secondly, the policy review of CE, primarily in the context of its function as a labour market activation programme, is too narrowly focused and will result in a distorted outcome. It is vital that all those directly involved in CE; sponsors; supervisors/workers and their unions cooperate together to protect and sustain the proven value of this programme at a community level.

• Supports for voluntary and community organisations was reduced by 48 per cent
• Local and Community Development Programme is down by 25 per cent
• Drugs Initiative programme has fallen by 24 per cent
• Family Support Agency budget, which funds the local Family Resource Centres, is down by 12 per cent.
• During this period 180 Community Development projects have been closed, with the staff transferred to local development companies.
• RAPID programme for disadvantaged urban areas has seen investment reduced by 67 per cent.
• The CLAR programme for disadvantaged rural areas has been wound down.

One of the possible effects of the TUS programme(introduced by Eamon OCuiv in the previous Fianna Fail government) will be to produce a ‘yellow-pack’ version of Community Employment.

The TUS programme has no training allocation and the unemployed, who are obliged to participate when referred by the Department of Social Protection, receive only a top up of €20 on their social welfare payments.

The 2012 Budget allocation for the TUS  programme is increased from €30 million to €84 million. In the same budget the allocation for Community Employment fell from€356million to €315million. The Back to Education Allowance has also been reduced from €198 million to €183 million.

In the previous 1980s recession the Coalition Government expanded the Community Employment programme to over 40,000 places for the unemployed and the Whole time Jobs Initiative and Social Economy programme created a further 5,000 full time jobs for the long term unemployed.

The real crisis in the economy is one of jobs rather than the sinking hole of public debt that the citizens are not responsible for. We need an expansion of quality initiatives such as Community Employment which includes training

This is the radical approach that should be adopted now. The allocation by Minister Howlin of €20 million for a new training scheme for 6,500 long term unemployed people should be considered as the first step in this direction.                 

Youth projects face big cuts

Budget cuts announced by Brendan Howlin in the recent budget  include a further significant reduction in funding for local youth services. City of Dublin, Youth Services Board has informed their fifty four projects across the city that funding cuts of 10 to 15 per cent will be necessary for 2012.

This is the third year of significant cuts being imposed. Over the four years from 2008 to 2011 the Government allocation for Youth projects has been reduced by 18 per cent, from €43.6 million to €35.8million.

Minister Phil Hogan- 'daunted by complex structures'

Senator Trevor OClochartaigh queried Environment Minister Phil Hogan if  there was any evidence that the ‘alignment’ and ‘cohesion’ process which will see local community development projects disappear into local authorities(via the local development companies),  had produced any real efficiences and better services? Minister Hogan was not in a position to reply and said he would ‘come back to the senator’

The exchange took part as part of a Seanad (yes, it’s still there) debate on the Community and Voluntary sector which also heard the Minsiter admit that ‘the sheer scale and complexity of current structures was still daunting and his aim was to unravel its complexity’.

In the same debate  Senator Jillian van Turnhout pointed out that ‘gaping holes had been created by the funding crisis and organisations moved from place to place  to fill the vacuum of a non-existent funding policy.

So it seems that after years of internal and external reviews, drafting in the international experts from the Centre for Effective Services and cutting budgets year on year, the Minister (and I presume his officals) are baffled and overwhelmed by the complexity of structures! Anything in there about what the programmes are actually expected to achieve?About the target groups they are supposed to reach? Not a peep, I reckon.Instead it seems we are treated to an administrative excercise designed to…well…save money and be administrative.I would suggest that the whole excercise has actually increased inefficiencies and lessened effectiveness and wasted valuable public resources.The simple fact is that disadvantaged communities need well run local community owned projects to deliver services and act as an innovative and dynamic resource to the local communities. Not more administrative three-card tricks!

Minister Phil Hogan

‘Unprecendented action’ may be necessary in  the forthcoming budget with regard to the Local and Community Development Programme according to Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan.

The Minister was quoted in an interview with ’Changing Ireland’, the magazine of the Local and Community Development Programme.Qualifying his remarks by saying that he did not want to pre-empt the review of departmental spending currently underway, Minister Hogan nevertheless indicated strongly that the actions may be necessary ‘to deliver services within budget’.

http://www.changingireland.ie/

In what looks like another government U-turn, Minister Hogan also indicated that the LCDP programme would not go under Local Authorities as indicated in the Fine Gael manifesto and that the social inclusion agency, Pobal, would also remain and not be subsumed into local government.

Meanwhile, it seems that merger of Community Development Projects with Local Development Partnerships has only been a marginal success.Figures released by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government suggest only 46% of CDPs have actually concluded or are in the ‘final stages’ of the integration process. The remainder are either part of ‘approved models’ , have left the Programme entirely or are ‘temporarily’ outside the Programme.

http://www.changingireland.ie/

In the second in a series of two surveys of Community Development Projects(CDPs) who have been amalgamated into Local Area Partnership companies, the report found that only 4% found the process ‘very good’ , while the majority either found the process ‘not good’ (41%) or ‘difficult but getting there’ (55%).

The survey also found that disillusion with the new programme had grown since the first survey in late 2010 with criticism centering on the unreality of programme goals, downgrading of community work and a lack of participation from disadvantaged communities in the new programme.

Bright points from the survey include the potential of the National Womens Collective and the National Traveller Partnership in developing a coherent voice for their respective communities of interest.

The Local and Community Development Programme is rapidly becoming a white elephant born of poor planning and lack of understanding of the role of a community sector over 20 years. Can we have some enlightened policy please?

For downloads of the report visit www.cwc.ie

Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan

He passed a few vague commitments about continuing dialogue with the community and voluntary sector and equally vaguely mentioned the future ‘co-ordinating role’ of local government. Many had expected him to go much further and spell out exactly the future role of local governemnt in administering and delivering community programmes such as Community Employment and the Local and Community Development Programme. The only bit of concrete information came in the by now ritual mention of ‘hard budget decisions’ at government.Here, he specifically singled out ‘governance’ and ‘value for money’ as key criteria when it came to supporting community projects.

What we really need from the new government is clear role for the community and voluntary sector in the social and economic renewal of the country.This needs to be put on a footing comparable to a ‘national contract’ or ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (I hear they are all the rage now). Over to you Phil..