The Fund's expected budget of 150m a year has been slashed by 15 per cent for 2004/2005 and by around 30 per cent for 2005/2006, following a meeting of ministers on 28 January blaming an over-commitment in overall allocations and in contribu- tions to particular programmes.
The Department for Education and Skills said, 'The over-commitment came about because of early under-spending and a wish to ensure that the money was fully used on preventative services. In addition, the Department underestimated partnerships' ability to spend as closely to budget profiles as they are now doing.'
Leading children's charity NCH has urged the Government to resolve the crisis. It said it was 'extremely concerned' about the effect that cuts would have on its delivery of programmes.
NCH said it had followed the DfES's advice regarding budget planning, but programmes had now been told they could not spend the money saved earlier in the financial year. It added, 'For some NCH programmes, this is effectively a cut in funding and it has serious implications for the staff employed and services commissioned when this money was thought to be available.'
Ian Vallender, director of policy and information at the National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations, said that one member organisation had already been forced to issue redundancy notices and could face a redundancy bill of 85,000.
He said, 'We know that not only is there a major impact on services, but staff positions have been made very vulnerable.'
Mr Vallander added that the withdrawal of Government funding threatened the confidence and goodwill in partnership working between the statutory and voluntary sectors.
NSPCC policy advisor Natalie Cronin said the charity was disappointed with the cuts. 'The voluntary sector delivers a large proportion of Children's Fund services. We are frustrated that our voice is not being heard on decisions about the fund.'
But following a meeting with minister for children Margaret Hodge on 5 February, Bob Janes, chair of Derbyshire's Early Years Childcare and Development Partnership, said the EYDCP was no longer considering closing down any local programmes. He said, 'We established an imaginative and flexible basis in which we can continue to provide a full range of services.'
* See Special Report, page 10