The TIE Campaign has said it can't commit to taking on more work until a decision is made over core funding
An LGBT charity has had to step back its plans for increasing educational work due to funding delays.
The TIE Campaign - Time for Inclusive Education - highlights issues facing gay, lesbian and transgender people in education.
It applied for core funding from the Scottish Government last year, as it looks to expand its work in securing LGBTI inclusive education.
However the UK government pushing back its budget has had the knock-on effect of pushing back a decision on the application – leading to the charity being unable to commit to any further work for the time being.
TIE said the delay has left it deeply frustrated, at a time when delivering its work is more important than ever.
“Last year we applied for a core funding grant through a Scottish Government funding cycle,” a statement from the charity said.
“If successful, this would allow us to upscale our core work, and to engage with schools and advance partnerships on a larger, full time basis. We were due to find out the outcome of this in mid-December, and as partners and schools will know, had hoped to be able to fully move ahead from the turn of this year if we received a positive outcome.
“Due to the 2020/21 budget delay, the outcome of our application has been delayed for two months and is likely to face further delay – preventing any planning for the immediate period of the year ahead.
“This has placed us in an impossible position. We are a volunteer-led charity; our founders work full-time elsewhere, often taking annual leave to deliver our work. As a result of this delay, we are unable to commit to any further engagements in the immediate term – preventing us from doing essential work that needs to happen.”
The Scottish Government said it is committed to LGBTI education in schools, and said it is considering a number of options to support the charity's important work.
“We are fully aware that the delayed UK budget, and its effect on the publication of the Scottish Budget, has caused planning difficulties for a number of organisations in Scotland, including TIE," a spokesperson said.
“This is why we pressed ahead with the Scottish budget earlier this month to give certainty for local government and public services. Decisions on the families and communities fund will be made after parliament has completed its consideration of the budget.
“We remain committed to becoming the first country in the world to embed LGBT inclusive education across the curriculum and will continue to consider all options to support TIE in its important work with schools.”
In April of last year, TIE warned it faced an uncertain future after being unable to secure funding. A major fundraising campaign was launched in response last summer.
The campaign was founded by Jordan Daly and Liam Stevenson, on the belief that LGBT history, role models and equalities should be taught in schools in order to tackle prejudice and bullying.
In 2017, the Scottish Parliament endorsed TIE's proposals for LGBT issues to be taught in schools, and the Scottish Government began to work with the charity to develop policy recommendations.
This led to Scotland becoming the first country in the world to adopt LGBT-inclusive education.
