PRESS RELEASE : Northern Ireland organisations to receive £57 million from UK government to help economically inactive people into work [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Northern Ireland Office on 31 March 2023.

Eighteen projects across Northern Ireland will receive more than £57 million through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to help support people into work.

Thousands of people across Northern Ireland will be supported into work as the UK Government confirms funding for transformational projects to tackle economic inactivity, boost job opportunities and grow the local economy.

Eighteen projects across Northern Ireland will now receive more than £57 million through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to help support people into work, compared to the £42 million competition value announced in December. Delivered in partnership with approximately 80 joint bidders or community partners, this means around 100 organisations in total will receive support.

The successful bids will support over 25,000 economically inactive people in Northern Ireland – offering them support to find high quality jobs. Charities, voluntary and community organisations, businesses and colleges will all play a vital role in supporting people into employment as the UK Government takes back control of funding previously run by the European Union.

Decisions taken by UK Ministers mean that additional funding has been allocated from the Northern Ireland UKSPF funding pot to enable projects to reach more people while also continuing their vital work and allowing for a greater range of delivery across all parts of Northern Ireland. The UK Government has confirmed that all organisations can start planning to use the funding from April when current money from the European Social Fund ends.

Announcing the new UK Government funding, Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison said:

We are making the most of opportunities outside the European Union to deliver for people in Northern Ireland.

It is fantastic that organisations have come together in new partnerships to deliver creative solutions to economic inactivity through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. In recognition of the huge impact charities, businesses and colleges are having on the ground, I’m delighted to announce that we are boosting the original funding pot for this competition by an additional £15 million to help them support even more people into fulfilling jobs.

This is an important milestone in the investment we are making to level up Northern Ireland and the whole of the UK.

The successful projects were allocated following a fair and open competition that organisations across Northern Ireland bid into for a share of the cash.

The new funding has been allocated from the £127 million UK Shared Prosperity Fund for Northern Ireland, which succeeds EU structural funds. The UK Government has been working closely with local partners to direct funding where it is most needed.

Successful projects being announced today include:

• Action Mental Health and six partners including Mencap, NOW Group and the Royal National Institute of Blind People will receive around £12 million to deliver an innovative programme of specialist employment preparation and training for over 4,500 people across Northern Ireland with significant disabilities or health conditions who face multiple barriers in accessing employment.
• Triangle Housing Association and its partners will provide intensive wrap-around support for economically inactive people, including women, those with disabilities, neurodiversity, autism and/or mental health issues to move towards sustained employment. The project will benefit from almost £4.8 million to support each person with holistic, wrap-around support through ongoing assessment and a personal development plan.
• Network Personnel Limited, along with its partners, will receive around £2 million for a partnership targeting economically inactive people through holistic interventions to increase their skills levels, move closer to mainstream provision, and take steps to secure sustainable employment or self-employment. Delivering across Mid Ulster, Mid and East Antrim, Antrim and Newtownabbey, Fermanagh and Omagh, Causeway Coast and Glens and Derry City and Strabane council areas, it plans to support over 1,300 people over the next two years.
• NIACRO will receive over £1.5 million towards a project to support over 1,500 people across Northern Ireland with convictions in prison and the community to find sustainable employment over the next two years. Services will include one-to-one mentoring, employability support, advice and training.
• Women’s TEC and its partners will support women across Belfast and the rural Newry, Mourne and Down region, through their £872,000 ‘Building Futures’ project. The aim of the programme is to support women furthest from the labour market to feel confident, motivated and empowered to find and sustain employment, improving their confidence, self-efficacy, and life and work skills.
• Extern Northern Ireland’s ‘Moving Forward Moving On’ project will receive £648,000 to provide intensive mentoring and employability support to young people in Belfast and Antrim and Newtownabbey who are furthest from the job market. It will include accredited courses in employability skills, life skills and personal development, as well as mentoring support and soft skills training

Northern Ireland Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris said:

The £57 million funding will support the vital work of community and voluntary organisations, enabling them to support people in Northern Ireland into secure and sustainable employment.

Through its People and Skills strand, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will invest in skills training and interventions to support economically inactive people in Northern Ireland. This is key to boosting productivity and harnessing Northern Ireland’s growth potential.

Each organisation will today receive a notification setting out any project conditions that they need to meet before funding will be released.

The money confirmed by UK Government to improve economic activity represents 45% of the total UKSPF allocation for Northern Ireland, in recognition of the need to tackle the high levels of economic inactivity across Northern Ireland compared with the UK average.

This builds on the UKSPF Investment Plan published last year, which was developed in close collaboration with partners in Northern Ireland including representatives from the voluntary sector, local councils, businesses and higher education. The investment is designed to improve pride in place, increase life chances and support growth by investing in key priorities for Northern Ireland.