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MARS support funding 2006/7
Marriage and Relationship Support funding is now a component of the Children, Young People and Families Grant programme, having been combined with the four other grant programmes. We have extracted only those elements of the CYPF grants that apply to marriage and adult relationships, there being many that focus on work with children and/or parenting.
The grants are tabulated below under the titles they now have:
Strategic Funding
The total strategic funding offered this year was £15.575m. Of this just under £4m is allocated to Marriage and Relationship support as shown below.
Strategic Funding
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Funding Allocated (£'s)
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| Relate | 1,500,000
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| One Plus One | 688,000
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| Tavistock Marital Studies Institute | 500,000
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| Marriage Care | 365,000
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| 2as 1 | 350,000
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| Safe Ground | 94,000
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| Time for Families | 94,000
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| Asian Family Counselling Service | 80,000
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| Family Welfare Association | 80,000
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| Project for Advocacy, Counselling and Education | 75,500
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| TOTAL | 3,852,500
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Continued 2005/6 Development Project funding
Certain projects from 2005/6 had funding covering 3 years identified.These are those from Strand C of the Strengthening Family Grants directly concerned with adult relationships.
Our Analysis
As in previous years we have done an analysis both of the types of organisation, and the use of the funds as illustrated below. Principle observations we can offer are:-
- Overall the funding for MARS work has reduced by 19% (£922,000) and the list of organisations funded has been cut from 41 to 11 reflecting a major concentration of the funding offered, and a very significant loss of support to many of the smaller organisations working in the field.
- There are NO new development projects in MARS work this year suggesting that development of the sector is no longer perceived as a priority.
- Counselling remains the major recipient with 53% (2% less than last year) of all funding, though this represents a substantial reduction in real terms, with Relate, traditiionally the largest recipient seeing its core funding cut by 29%.
- Services to support couples and to prepare them have been cut out entirely (down from 11% last year, and 19% the year before) which must raise questions as to whether the shift to preventative work envisaged in the AGMARS strategy has any meaning under current policies.
- Research has seen a significant increase in funding, up to 23% from 18% and is the only area to see an increase in real terms.
- The focus on developing the relationships of Prisoners receives an increased share of funding at 4% of the total, though again this is a small reduction in real terms.
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