“There is growing alarm at a proposal in the Department for Communities draft budget to slash £1.5 million from independent advice services.
45 workers dealing with welfare reform would be put out of work. This will directly impact frontline advice services in Derry at a time when many more people are seeking access to benefits and help. Given the pressures the advice sector currently face this is simply a callous proposal. It has already caused immense distress among workers and advice services who are overwhelmed already. It’s a slap in the face to advice providers and workers who’ve stayed on the frontline under tremendous pressure during the pandemic.
This is being proposed by a department led by a Sinn Féin Minister who purports to be on the side of ordinary people.
Sinn Féin along with the DUP and Alliance brought in vicious Tory welfare cuts that have been a central driver of increasing poverty – and this latest proposal represents a continued attack on the most vulnerable and on workers.
The proposal to put welfare staff out of work is only one aspect of unacceptable proposals in the draft budget discussed in Stormont last week. It represents a dereliction of responsibility and adds to calamitous decisions coming from the Stormont Executive during the pandemic.
The entire Executive must take responsibility for making sure these proposed cuts don’t go forward.
Stormont has become increasingly out of touch with the reality of people’s lives with intra-Executive blame games, cuts and utterly shambolic pandemic policies. It’s urgent we build a grassroots alternative that can push for meaningful action on poverty and inequality with a people-first approach.”
