Charities call for executive to drop 'harmful' anti-poverty strategy

Almost fifty charities and anti-poverty organisations are calling for the Northern Ireland Executive to withdraw its draft strategy to tackle poverty, saying that families "deserve better". An anti-poverty strategy was first committed to by Stormont 19 years ago, but the first-ever plan wasonly agreed by executive parties last month. A letter to Stormont ministers said it is "more harmful to have a strategy that will not address poverty, than no strategy at all". In a statement, the Department for Communities (DfC) said the strategy was the "culmination of hard work and collaboration" from a broad range of groups "including the anti-poverty co-design group". Groups including Save the Children, the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA), the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) and trade unions are among signatories of the letter. The anti-poverty strategy was released for public consultation earlier in June for a period of 14 weeks. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, whose department has responsibility for the document, said the plan was "realistic", given the financial constraints Stormont departments are operating in. When the plan was agreed in May by the executive, First Minister Michelle O'Neill said it probably could "go further" but denied there was a row between Sinn Féin and the DUP over it. The 28-page paper sets out the executive's approach to tackling poverty over the next 10 years. It outlines efforts already being taken by various departments to help minimise the risks of people falling into poverty in Northern Ireland, as well as reducing its impacts and ways to help people get out of poverty. The document states that poverty is "not a problem which the executive can solve in isolation", but one that requires community groups, business, councils and voluntary groups to help. It adds that the strategy will be accompanied by a programme of delivery to be updated on an ongoing basis. It states that those who have signed it want to share their "dismay and frustration" at the draft strategy. It adds: "The undersigned agree that the Northern Ireland Executive's draft Anti-Poverty 'Strategy' does not meet the criteria of a reasonable strategy. "It fails to fulfil what oversight bodies, including the NI Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee, outline as the basic elements of any strategy." They are critical that it does not include defined and specific actions or targets. "We acknowledge that the minister has indicated that an action plan with targets and specific actions will follow at a later, unspecified date, but every expert, every oversight body is clear that a strategy must include measurable and time-bound targets within or alongside the strategy," it states. "We are committed to working with you in good faith to eradicate poverty in Northern Ireland, and therefore, we are asking the NI Executive to withdraw their support of the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy, on the basis that it is more harmful to have a strategy that will not address poverty, than no strategy at all. "Our children, families and communities – your constituents – deserve better." Those who have signed it include: Barnardo's NI, the Simon Community, Action for Children, NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action), the Law Centre NI, Age NI and Conradh na Gaeilge. In a statement, a DfC spokesperson said the minister has "listened carefully to the recommendations made, many of which have been included and actioned in the Anti-Poverty Strategy". "The strategy is out for public consultation and we encourage anyone with an interest to engage with the consultation and make their views known."