WOKING Council’s Executive has agreed funding cuts of nearly 20% to community and voluntary organisations for the next financial year.
The borough council’s Community Grants scheme, to which local groups demonstrating substantial community benefit are invited to apply, has had its budget reduced from £922,000 to £750,000 for the latest round of financing.
The parallel Community Fund, used to support one-off capital projects, has again not been replenished, accounting for a further shortfall of £100,000.
Taken together, the reduction in the two funds represents a saving of £272,000 for the council, a decision “necessitated by the need for the council to achieve significant savings”, according to the Applications for Financial Assistance annual report, which also noted “the impact of the pandemic on the council’s finances”.
Familiar names such as Citizens Advice Woking, Woking shopMobility, York Road Project and Your Sanctuary had their applications cut by 10%, a benchmark figure for the process.
Others face deeper shortfalls: The Lighthouse – in its own words, “host of a range of creative projects to support, encourage, and empower those on the margins” – applied for £30,000 and got £16,400, while Cardinals in the Community, which fosters Woking Football Club’s relationship with the wider community, asked for £20,000 and will receive £10,000.
Although The Lighthouse houses Woking Foodbank, the Foodbank funds are separate from those of The Lighthouse and it runs as a project in its own right. The Foodbank says it is well-supported financially.
Forty-seven groups applied for financial assistance; some applications were reduced by more than 10% and others were turned down.
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Attacking the cuts, Cllr Will Forster, the Liberal Democrat shadow portfolio holder for community grants, said: “This is a heartless and short-sighted move by the Conservative administration at Woking council.
“The pandemic has shown how valuable the voluntary sector is to Woking. We need community and voluntary groups now more than ever now, yet the council is cutting a massive 19% from its support.
“The Lib Dems and I fear the consequences of these grant cuts have not been properly thought through and could prove counter-productive.
“If charities are not able to support people properly, those people will turn to the council and cost it much more money in the end.
“We do appreciate the council is in a difficult financial situation due to COVID, but they also made some poor decisions.”
Cllr Simon Ashall, deputy leader of the council and portfolio holder for grants to voluntary and community organisations, said: “The funding of voluntary and community organisations in Woking is something that our borough has a proud record on. I’m delighted this continues with the award of £1.7million in cash and non-cash benefits to local groups for 2022-23.
“While it’s true that the overall value of the scheme has been reduced by £170,000, or 10%, officers have been working closely with the groups to minimise the impact on them, perhaps by seeking funding from other sources or delivering services slightly differently to achieve similar outcomes.
“When you compare this to neighbouring councils, it is a huge amount of support.”
Cllr Ashall’s overall figure of £1.7million goes beyond direct funding to include principally, says the annual report, the value of the free parking provided by the council (value £122,460); reduced levels of rent for council-owned premises (£250,000); and discretionary rate relief for the premises they occupy (£550,000).
Whether the cut is nearer 20% or 10% depends on which measure is used, and which argument is preferred, as the parties demonstrate.
Cllr Ashall added: “I understand that in amongst all this good news, the opposition needs to find a problem to tempt people to vote for them in May. They are perfectly well aware of the financial reasons behind the reduction for 2022-23, which will be obvious to most people.
“I will focus on celebrating the fact that despite these challenging times, thousands of people will benefit from the work of these wonderful organisations.”
Although the council has yet to finalise a budget, the application decisions are effective immediately to give organisations more time to plan for next year.