14 January 1998 Edition
SF meet McFall over ACE closure
Sinn Féin Assembly members Mary Nelis, Dara O'Hagan and Conor Murphy, along with a delegation of community and voluntary organistations, met with British Minister John McFall at Stormont on Wednesday morning to voice their concern over the sudden closure of the ACE schemes, announced over Christmas.
Following the meeting Dara O'Hagan said they had raised their concerns over the sudden closure of the ACE schemes and its replacement with `Worktrain', a new part of the `New Deal' jigsaw.
She accused the Labour government of failing to deliver an open and transparent consultation process. She said, ``Given the lack of consultation and some of the current players there could be the suspicion that the Labour government is returning to the old agenda of political vetting carried out in the 1980s.''
Sean Gibson, ACE manager at the Frank Gillen Centre in Belfast, said that not only would the ACE closures ``wipe out the community infra-structure'' but its replacement, `Worktrain', would not be as effective as ACE.
The Frank Gillen Centre surrently empolys 18 ACE workers and two core workers.
``The ending of ACE will affect the services this centre provides, the staffing of the creche, the afterschools clubs, the canteen that provides cheap nutritious food and our youth workers,'' added Gibson.
The improved incentives, £100 to the worker and £50 for the service provider, compared with the ACE scheme, where the worker gets £83 and the service provider £11, may provide incentives for profiteers.
Gibson also queried the benefits of the proposed six month training as opposed to the 12 months ACE currently provides. He said, ``six months can't provide either the quality of training to a sufficiently high standard or tackle the barriers faced by unemployed people, such as low self-esteem.''
Following the meeting Dara O'Hagan said they had raised their concerns over the sudden closure of the ACE schemes and its replacement with `Worktrain', a new part of the `New Deal' jigsaw.
She accused the Labour government of failing to deliver an open and transparent consultation process. She said, ``Given the lack of consultation and some of the current players there could be the suspicion that the Labour government is returning to the old agenda of political vetting carried out in the 1980s.''
Sean Gibson, ACE manager at the Frank Gillen Centre in Belfast, said that not only would the ACE closures ``wipe out the community infra-structure'' but its replacement, `Worktrain', would not be as effective as ACE.
The Frank Gillen Centre surrently empolys 18 ACE workers and two core workers.
``The ending of ACE will affect the services this centre provides, the staffing of the creche, the afterschools clubs, the canteen that provides cheap nutritious food and our youth workers,'' added Gibson.
The improved incentives, £100 to the worker and £50 for the service provider, compared with the ACE scheme, where the worker gets £83 and the service provider £11, may provide incentives for profiteers.
Gibson also queried the benefits of the proposed six month training as opposed to the 12 months ACE currently provides. He said, ``six months can't provide either the quality of training to a sufficiently high standard or tackle the barriers faced by unemployed people, such as low self-esteem.''