Hundreds of job vacancies at the Department for Communities are not expected to be filled due to budget pressures.
It comes as the department, which is responsible for benefits, housing, addressing homelessness, arts, culture and sport, said it is facing a “sub-optimal budget” in the 2023/24 financial year.
The budget settlement provides the department with £861.6m for resource, £216.1m for capital and £25.6m in financial transactions capital (FTC).
It said this represents a resource funding gap of £111.2m (15.5%) and a shortfall of £59m (27.3%) in capital required for 2023-24.
In order to work within these allocations, the department is proposing to continue to carry 600 vacancies.
Other measures include the rationalisation of the department’s office estate, a 5% reduction in arm’s length body budgets, £4.9m for the rates support grant (£4m less than last year), with £159m provided to social housing for 1,470 new starts.
Mitigations include sustaining funding levels for the supporting people programme and for 280 community and voluntary organisations, as well as the labour market partnerships.
There are also plans for a £20m budget for discretionary support grants and funding for homelessness interventions to be increased by £2m above the 2022/23 level.
In taking these decisions, the department said it will manage a resource overplanning position of almost £10m in year.
The department’s permanent secretary Colum Boyle said more than 180 individuals and organisations have responded to an equality impact assessment (EQIA) consultation around the budget.
He said the submissions were “considered carefully in the department’s decision-making process”.
“Working closely with our delivery partners, we have sought to mitigate the significant and adverse impact of this sub-optimal budget across the vast array of public services and support delivered by the department.
“Our shared priority remains supporting the most vulnerable and at-risk in our society, however, difficult decisions had to be made to live within the funding available.”
