Carl Chinn talking on Radio Westmidlands to Bridie Nugent and staff at the Irish Welfare Centre about the funding cuts

The decision to withdraw £60,000 of funding from the Irish Welfare and Information Centre has been branded 'bureaucracy gone mad' by its director.
Bridie Nugent slammed the decision by Birmingham City Council to withdraw its funding after supporting the organisation for the past 20 years.
The council has agreed to give IWIC funding for one more year, but strictly as a one-off to enable it to find an alternative income stream or wind down its operations.
The grant helps fund its frontline crisis intervention service in High Street, Deritend, a facility that offers anyone in need the opportunity to drop in and seek advice or assistance.
The £60,000 city council grant is also match-funded by the Irish Government meaning IWIC could stand to lose up to £120,000.
The two grants make up the majority of the funding of the frontline operation, with £20,000 coming from IWIC's own fund raising or donations.
In all four people work in the frontline office, all of whom could face being made redundant .
Mrs Nugent said: "It is the heart of the operation. It's from there that all work is filtered through. It is the backbone of the organisation."
This year marked a change in the funding mechanism - rather than applying on a yearly basis IWIC were pitching in for three years of funding.
Mrs Nugent said they were told the application failed because it relied on anecdotal evidence rather than statistics.
She said: "Many councillors have agreed it was a bad decision because we have a proven record. We have met all the targets and even exceeded them. They don't doubt we are giving a good service. It was a paper exercise."
Mrs Nugent stressed it was the only Irish organisation delivering this kind of service and a year of uncertainty would be little if any help, with staff being forced to consider their future. Should staff decide to leave a great deal of experience would be lost.
"It is not something you acquire in a week - it has been built up over years," she said.
Mrs Nugent revealed staff have been "devastated" by the news.
The office under threat might deal with anything from helping find accommodation for a family fleeing domestic violence, to obtaining birth certificates or pensions for elderly Irish people. It also helps trace relatives of people who have died. But Mrs Nugent was keen to point out that to give a complete run down of all that it does would be difficult.
Calling on the council to reconsider, she said: "We think it is the city's obligation to look after the people of Birmingham.
"We are talking about £60,000 which is a drop in the ocean as far as the city council is concerned. We have been operating for 50 years and this could be the end of a service that has been going for half a century. It is very shortsighted of the city council not to see the value of this project. It is bureaucracy gone mad. They actually recognise we give a second to none service - they even send their own housing department around to see how we do it."
The withdrawal does not sever links with the city council entirely - other areas of IWIC's operations will continue to receive funding but such money is ring-fenced for specific purposes.
"They had to make some cuts and because they give us money for other projects they are using a paper exercise for not funding us," said Ms Nugent, adding that many of those who use its services would be reluctant to use the alternatives that are available.
"They would rather go without than go to neighbourhood offices or other statutory agencies," she added.
Since the funding cut was rubber-stamped by the cabinet there has been talk of a council re-think.
At a recent cabinet meeting Cllr Sue Anderson, cabinet mem-ber for adults and communities, said the reorganisation of vol-untary sector grant funding had been a huge task and acknowledged there were problems with the new system. She has promised to look at the decision again.
Council leader Mike Whitby has also promised further negotiations as a matter of urgency.
The points scoring part of the commissioning process has been criticised for not taking into account the unique nature of IWIC to offer detailed and specific advice to the city's Irish population.
The way £1.4 million of grants were distributed to 13 successful organisations was criticised by scrutiny committee chairman Cllr Tim Huxtable, who said there had been a lack of communication. He said the new system's scoring process had not been properly explained to applicants.
Twenty organisations applying for funding were unsuccessful, inclu-ding the Asian Welfare Centre.
Councillor Huxtable (Con, Bournville) added that both the Irish and Asian welfare centres had been told by the council before applying they were doing an excellent job and that their performance would put them in good stead for future funding.
Jim Whorwood, cabinet member responsible for approving the grants, said he would be meeting with the two organisations to see what additional financial help could be given. There was a "steep learning curve" for both the council and the voluntary sector, he added.
Awards have been given to Birmingham Citizen's Advice Bureau, Birmingham Asian Resource Centre and Age Concern.