Belfast charity says National Insurance rise will leave £100k hole in their finances

Voluntary organisations in Northern Ireland have said the planned rise in employer's National Insurance contributions could result in job losses and impact service delivery.

Dr Caoimhe Archibald said the rise will prove "incredibly challenging" for local businesses, community organisations and public sector employers.

The Finance Minister has written to the the Treasury calling for an offset.

The Government's decision to increase employer contributions to 15 percent on salaries over £5,000 from the current rate of 13.8 percent on salaries over £9,100 was laid out in the last budget.

The rise is expected to generate an additional £20 billion per year for the economy but voluntary sector organisations have warned that it could worsen service pressures.

Maeve Monaghan is CEO of NOW Group, an organisation that supports people with disabilities into employment.

She said: “Budgeting was going to be hard enough already, but we are looking at about £100,000 loss or additional impact on our services at a time when people with disabilities need more services. 

“At a time when we are really succeeding and driving change for people with disabilities, this just cannot happen.

“We need the right people to be able to deliver the services and because of the nature of the disabilities of some people we support, we have to have a ratio of staff to participants. 

“So once we are impacted on our budget, if we have less staff, then we have less services.

 “There are different ways that we would look at it in relation that, you know, we want to keep all our amazing people, but at the end of the day this will have an impact on the services we can provide to the 1800 people with disabilities that we have on our books.”

55,000 people are currently employed by charities across Northern Ireland.

A recent survey of the sector found that more than three quarters of voluntary organisations asked expect to be hit financially in a major way by a rise in National Insurance.

Many said they could end up paying £500,000 extra annually.

Celine McStravick, CEO of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, said: "We are working right across adult social care, children's social care, health, mental health, transport, etc. 

"You name it, our sector are there and in fact, there is absolutely no doubt that if this goes through without giving any protection to the voluntary community sector then services will be impacted. 

"In April 2025, there are organisations in our sector who are going to have to find hundreds of thousands of pounds. 

"That seems almost impossible even to fathom."

NICVA is calling for more support from Stormont to ensure those on the ground can keep helping others.

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