Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

49. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to conduct a review of the social inclusion and community activation programme in advance of the second round of tenders in 2017. [35447/16]

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department has responsibility for the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2015-2017, the aim of which is to reduce poverty, promote social inclusion and equality through local, regional and national engagement and collaboration. The programme aims to improve the life chances and opportunities of those who are marginalised in society, living in poverty or in unemployment, through community development approaches, targeted supports and interagency collaboration.

SICAP’s target groups are children and families from disadvantaged areas, lone parents, new communities (including refugees and asylum seekers), people living in disadvantaged communities, people with disabilities, Roma, the unemployed (including those not on the Live Register), low income workers/households, Travellers, young unemployed people from disadvantaged areas and young people (aged 15-24) who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs).

In accordance with the Public Spending Code, legal advice, good practice internationally and in order to ensure the optimum delivery of the services to clients, the current Programme was subject to a public procurement process which was open to Local Development Companies, other not-for-profit community groups, commercial firms and national organisations that could provide the services to deliver the new Programme. SICAP is delivered locally by the successful tenderers, called Programme Implementers, who operate under the terms of a Funding Agreement with the Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) in each Local Authority area.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) has undertaken a public consultation on commissioning human, social and community services, to which my Department has contributed. It is expected that, inter alia, the results arising from the consultation process, together with the DPER Public Spending Code and legal requirements, will determine the nature of the commissioning process used for the next programme.

The new Programme will also be influenced by the results of a series of SICAP evaluations planned. These include a DPER Value for Money Policy Review (VFMPR) of the Programme scheduled to commence during 2017, and an in-depth evaluation of the programme by my Department in collaboration with Pobal and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). The Programme is also subject to evaluation by reason of its receipt of co-funding under the European Social Fund Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-2020. The results of these evaluations, as well as my Department’s consultations with relevant stakeholders, over the coming months, will also help inform the shape of the next programme.