Job losses and service cuts will be “inevitable” at charities and community organisations due to upcoming rises in employers’ National Insurance costs, a body representing the voluntary sector has said.
In her October budget, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that employers would pay 15% towards their employees National Insurance costs from April next year, up from 13.8% currently.
Public sector organisations are protected from the rising employer costs, but those in private sector and the community and voluntary sector are not.
Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) chief executive Celine McStravick says charitable bodies here are facing increased annual bills of between £5,000 and £500,000.
“From April 2025 our payrolls will be increasing and we have absolutely no way of finding the income to cover that,” Ms McStravick said.
“Over three quarters of our members have told us that it will cost anything from £5,000 up to nearly £500,000 next year.
“The voluntary and community sector are stuck in the middle, providing really vital services and yet we have no way of covering those bills.
“It will inevitably mean redundancies, decreasing services, people’s hours being cut because there is no way you can make the money appear from nowhere.”
One of the organisations which will be affected is Inspire Wellbeing, a charity which supports people living with mental ill health, intellectual disability, autism and addictions.
It says it will see an increased payroll bill of around £200,000 next year.
“We are working with people with learning disabilities and it will severely impact our services for next year,” Inspire’s chief executive Kerry Anthony said.
“We genuinely don’t know what we are going to do.
“This is an immediate cost coming next April and it will mean that our work with those with learning disabilities and mental health issues will see an impact on what we can provide for them.
“Those most in need and most vulnerable in our society will be most impacted by this.”
