Core Grant fact file

Date published: 21 February 2025

Despite ongoing severe pressures on health service finances, the Minister took the decision to invest circa £1.8m in Core Grant scheme funds, rather than allow the funding to be withdrawn from the sector entirely.

The overall health and social care budget is facing a projected funding gap overall of £400m for 2025/26 and Trusts will be asked to deliver in the region of £200m in new savings for the second year running. 

What is the Core Grant? 

The purpose of the Core Grant scheme is to help Community and Voluntary sector bodies cover their fixed costs.

Through the scheme, contributions ranging from £5,000 - £100,000 are offered towards core costs such as:

• up to 25% of a permanent member of staff’s annual salary (the member of staff must not be involved in service delivery while funded by the Scheme);
• relevant training costs (training for staff and/or volunteers);
• relevant running costs and overheads (e.g. rent, rates, electricity, gas etc);
• equipment and minor (less than £15,000 in total) capital items;
• management and audit costs;
• costs of involving volunteers (e.g. travel); and
• evaluation costs for the organisation or service.

The Core Grant scheme, therefore, does not directly fund service delivery. That comes from separate funding.

It is important to emphasise that the Department’s Core Grant scheme is a small part of the total health service expenditure which goes to the Community and Voluntary sector, as most money is for the direct provision of services.

For example, in 2023/24, 84% of Core Grant recipients were also in receipt of HSC service delivery contracts worth £53m. 

The Core Grant scheme for 2025/26 is described as a “redesigned scheme”. What does that mean?

In July 2024, the Minister announced that the Core Grant scheme would be redesigned in order to address the unfairness in the previous scheme, which had funded the same organisations for more than 20 years.

This new scheme was designed last year in partnership with the Community and Voluntary sector in a process facilitated by NICVA, the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, and relaunched in Autumn 2024.

This redesign process was open to all Community and Voluntary sector organisations and included several engagement events which Community and Voluntary organsiations attended and participated in, leading to the Minister agreeing a number of “key elements” for the scheme which were redrafted following the events. 

How much total funding is available for the 2025/26 scheme? 

The total funding pot for 2025/26 is £1.8m. This will be the third year in which £1.8m has been made available despite the extreme budgetary pressures facing the Department.

These pressures include a projected funding gap overall of £400m for 2025/26 and a requirement for the Health & Social Care system to deliver in the region of £200m in new savings for the second year running. 

How many organisations will receive Core Grants this year?

Subject to final verification checks, the funding will be provided to 25 community and voluntary sector organisations. Grants will range from approximately £17,000 to £100,000.

Overall, 259 bids for funding were received, totalling over £13m. Demand was therefore always going to outstrip supply.

The general standard of applications was incredibly high, and the selection of 25 high-scoring applications to stage two of the assessment process was based solely on agreed scoring criteria, rather than a departmental determination of the value of the applicants.

The Health Minister deeply values the work of all those organisations within the Community & Voluntary sector.

They play an invaluable role in communities right across Northern Ireland. 

It is important to stress, however, that the financial constraints within which the Department is operating means there are sadly many very commendable organisations seeking funding that is simply not available. 

Will those organisations that were unsuccessful this time have the opportunity to apply again, and will they find out why their application was unsuccessful? 

Yes. Those who have missed out this time will have another opportunity later this year to bid for funding in 2026/27.

Officials will begin contacting applicants next week to offer feedback, which it is hoped will be of assistance in applying for future funding rounds. 

It is stated that the 25 successful organisations will be provided with the funding “subject to checks”. What does that mean?

The Department has invited the 25 highest-scoring applicants to submit documentation which will allow us to carry out financial viability checks and finalise letters of offer. Subject to the successful completion of this process, it is anticipated that letters of offer will be issued by mid March.

Information requested includes:

• An organisation chart, including job descriptions of any posts for which a salary contribution is being sought;
• Salary pay scales and the most recent three months of salary records (including breakdown of Employer NIC and Pension payments) from the payroll system for any posts for which a salary contribution is being sought;
• The most recent three months of bank statements for the account into which funding will be deposited;
• The organisation’s most recent annual report;
• The organisation’s most recent set of accounts (these must be audited where the organisation is required to do so by the Charity Commission);
• Forward Plan/ Corporate Plan (where appropriate);
• Equal Opportunities Policy;
• Health and Safety Policy;
• Travel and Subsistence Policy (if applicable); and
• Child Protection Policy (if applicable).