THE manager of the Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service, which provides vital services to vulnerable benefit claimants, has called for a long-term solution in order to secure its future.

It comes after £128,000 of annual funding was last week approved by Belfast City Council.

Based in the Wolfhill Centre in Ligoniel, the Tribunal represents people who have had their benefits stopped appeal that refusal.

Maria Morgan who oversees the service says the funding is only a short-term fix.

“Funding has been an ongoing issue since about 2015 and we have had to fight year on year for it,” she explained. “With help from Belfast City Council and the Department for Communities, we have been able to access some funding over the last few years to enable us to run our limited service.

“With Covid and other changes, the service is not sustainable like it was. We only have three staff members who were averaging 25 hearings per week before the pandemic. Prior to Covid, we had 2,500 people waiting on tribunal representation."

Ms Morgan says the vital service gets people money they are legally entitled too.

“Our success rate is around 80 per cent which is very good. If a claimant goes without our representation, the success rate drops to 30 or 40 per cent which tells a tale in itself," she added. 

“We believe this service should be ringfenced every year. Our staff have been under the threat of redundancy repeatedly, sometimes every six months. They are the only support staff who have to suffer but yet they still go out and represent people brilliantly."

While welcoming the latest annual funds round, the Tribunal head says the Council and Department of Communities need to come up with a permanent support package. 

“For me to properly run this service, we need a minimum of five representatives," said Ms Morgan. 

“My staff were under enough pressure before lockdown and the changes to representation and the different ways the hearings can take place means we need extra staff. This funding is great but I think it will only last to January next year if we operate with current staffing level. If we get the additional two staff members that we need, it will only last to August or September.”

People Before Profit councillor Fiona Ferguson, whose motion at the 1 April Belfast City Council called for funding for the Tribunal welcomed its approval at the Strategic, Policy and Resources Committee meeting on 23 April.

"I am delighted that Belfast City Council has agreed to my request for £128,500 for this important welfare advice service which has clawed back millions for our communities,” she said.

“Ultimately this service needs core funding and Minister Hargey must step up to the plate to provide that. The impact of welfare reform has crippled communities and the underfunding of an advice service to help navigate the difficult system is salt in the wound.   The Belfast Citywide Tribunal is denied core funding year after year.  The brilliant staff at the Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service deserve to work without the fear that their jobs might go unfunded next year. People who need this crucial lifeline should be assured that this service is going nowhere. People Before Profit will continue to campaign for core funding for this service."