New Deal projects could be faced with spending restrictions this year as the government has instructed local Government Offices to implement cuts across Yorkshire and Humberside.
A report in the regeneration magazine New Start stated that all New Deal for Communities programmes were faced with a cut, totalling £10 million, from their budgets for the next financial year (starting in April). This was the latest such announcement about initiatives funded through the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, where most schemes (such as Supporting People) have also been told that funding would be reduced.
Government Office for Yorkshire and Humberside confirmed this would affect Burngreave New Deal (BNDfC), who are faced with a 12% reduction in proposed spending – meaning that this year’s Delivery Plan would be for £10 million, instead of about £11.4 million. New Deal were already aware of the potential cuts in February when the Messenger reported on plans for Year Five of New Deal, but they have yet to decide if existing or new projects will suffer cuts. BNDfC Chief Executive, John Clark, told us:
“I am unable to give you any information at this stage as we are working on proposals to manage our allocation of funds to ensure we can still meet the priorities identified in the Year Five Delivery Plan. I would also want to engage with the Partnership Board and BNDfC-funded projects on any implications before they were published.”
BNDfC are still in negotiation with Government Office, and hope to restrict the impact of any cutbacks upon activity in the area. It is far from certain whether any running projects will face any spending cuts at all even if the reduction is enforced, but whether they are or not, continuing uncertainty cannot be good for anyone.
by Richard Belbin