Concerns raised that majority of Invest NI grants awarded in area have gone to businesses within 1.5-mile radius of their North Eastern regional office
A Mid and East Antrim Borough Councillor has expressed concern at how economic development grants are being allocated within the borough.
Alliance councillor Aaron Skinner highlighted that of the 18 projects that have been successful in bidding for funding through the Digital Transformation Flexible Fund grants, 16 have been based in Ballymena and that the majority of Invest NI grants awared in the area have gone to businesses located within a 1.5-mile radius of the North Eastern Regional Office of Invest NI, which is located at the ECOS Centre in Ballymena.
A total of £7.5m was secured jointly by Councils from the NI Complementary Fund for the Northern Ireland-wide Digital Transformation Flexible Fund, which is delivered by all 11 local councils supported by Invest NI. The project is part-funded by the NI Executive, UK Government, DAERA, and all local councils in Northern Ireland.
The fund was officially launched in November 2023, and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has initiated four funding calls with £280,179.35 allocated to date. The project is due to run until March 2026, and two more calls are planned.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has a target of 36 grants to deliver by March 2026. To date, the fund has received 69 Expression of Interest submissions from within the borough and 25 applications, of which 18 were successful. 11 of those grant offers have been accepted.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Cllr Skinner said that while he had no issue with the allocation process, he was concerned that the council were not doing enough to promote the funding or encourage applications from beyond the wider Ballymena area.
“Of the 18 grants awarded so far, one business in Carrickfergus has been awarded two grants and a business in Portglenone has also been awarded money. The rest of the grants have gone to businesses in Ballymena. This is something which may be seen as a one-off anomaly, but we have gone through four funding cycles now, and it is a pattern that we are seeing consistently,” he said.
“InvestNI have been making a lot of noise about regional imbalance across Northern Ireland. I have been on council for two years now, and in that time, I have come to realise that what we are seeing is a regional imbalance within Mid and East Antrim Borough itself.
“This is something that I have been raising consistently with the council and in the chamber. It is something that is not being taken on board, and all we are seeing is lip service.”
Cllr Skinner clarified that while he has no issue with the processes in place for allocating the funding to applicants, I believes that the council are not doing enough to promote the grants and encourage applications from beyond the Ballymena area.
“Our economic development staff are based within the ECOS Centre, and that is where the majority of the applicants are coming from. I am not for a second suggesting that there are any businesses within the borough being disadvantaged in terms of the process; it is more of a case of the fact that they are not aware of the funding or the opportunities, and are not coming forward with applications.
“If any other organisation were not receiving funding applications from a particular group, demographic or geographical location, they would be asking questions as to why and trying to overcome that.
“We have some fantastic Local Enterprise Agencies in Mid and East Antrim. Ballymena Business Centre is very good and I have nothing against them, but we also have Carrickfegus Enterprise Centre and LEDCOM in Larne who have a proven track record in delivering economic development but the council need to be working more closely with them and we need to embed some staff there so that those businesses are also aware of the assistance and opportunities available to them from the council.”
A Mid and East Antrim Borough Council spokesperson said: “The Digital Transformation Flexible Fund programme is delivered across Northern Ireland as a joint Council programme. Since 2013, there have been 5 funding calls to the programme, with the 6th now in progress.
“Each call to the funding programme has been extensively promoted to businesses across the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area. Promotional channels include: Council’s Amplify Ezine (circulated in line with each funding call to approximately 2000 business contacts – including Mid & East Antrim Elected Members), Council social media channels, website, in-person and online briefing sessions, plus information issued to various stakeholder organisations, within the Borough.
“Council will continue to liaise with businesses across the Borough to encourage uptake of the programme and to highlight any other funding opportunities available to them through Council and/or other stakeholders.”
An Invest NI spokesperson said: “The Digital Transformation Flexible Fund (DTFF) is managed by Newry Mourne and Down District Council on behalf of all 11 councils in Northern Ireland.
“NMDDC promotes the fund across Northern Ireland, and in addition, each council has responsibility for promotion in their respective areas. In this instance, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council lead on the promotion of DTTF for businesses in its region.
“To date, DTFF has completed four calls, and a fifth call recently closed for applications. It is anticipated that two further calls will be launched, and we would encourage eligible businesses from right across Northern Ireland to consider applying. For further information, please visit https://dtff.co.uk .”
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