Debate contribution: Community and Voluntary Sector Funding
Debate contribution by Ms Liz Kimmins on .
- MLA
- Ms Liz Kimmins
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 30 September 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Opposition Business
- Heading
- Community and Voluntary Sector Funding
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4564020
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The community and voluntary sector is a crucial part of our health service. It delivers services that not only fill the gaps in service provision but are often a lifeline to the many people whom they support at the grassroots in all our communities. In my constituency of Newry and Armagh, we are lucky to have a community and voluntary sector that is extremely vibrant and plays a significant role in strengthening our communities and supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our society. It often does that on a shoestring budget, time after time demonstrating value for money and effectiveness in tackling the core issues that affect people's lives. Not only that, but the community and voluntary sector is extremely agile and, more often than not, can shape the services that it provides to meet the changing needs of the communities that it operates in. We saw that during COVID, and I see it every day on the ground in my constituency and across the North. That is particularly important in mental health provision, where statutory services are stretched beyond capacity and the community and voluntary sector has stepped in to deliver bespoke mental health services to meet the needs of the people in the area. We have some of the most effective and impactful services, such as the Crisis Café and PIPS Hope and Support in Newry and The Well in the Mournes in South Down, which recognise the serious crises that are affecting the communities around them. They responded by developing bespoke services that, I have no doubt, have saved many lives since their inception. Just last Friday, I was delighted to attend the Crisis Café's open day in Newry. That service is led by young people to deliver mental health support to other young people. We heard the testimonies from some of the young people who had previously engaged with the Crisis Café's services when they were struggling with their mental health. Following the success of the support that they received, they are now helping to support others when they experience similar difficulties. To me, that shows the real value of our community and voluntary sector. We simply cannot afford to lose the professionalism, the expertise and the efficiency that the community and voluntary sector delivers, needless to say, often at low cost. It is not only changing the lives of thousands of people for the better but is undoubtedly saving our health service huge amounts of money in the meantime. The cuts to the core grant funding programme have, once again, left the sector under intense pressure, and we all saw how detrimental that was when the European social fund ended last year. We run the huge risk of losing excellent services and, even more importantly, experienced and highly skilled staff who cannot be expected to continue living with the uncertainty that stop-start funding brings. In the grand scheme of things, this is a relatively small amount of money that goes a long way, and it is essential that it is protected; otherwise, the cost to society and to our health service will be much greater.
522 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.92).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.92 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.80 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.19 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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