Dismay as council removes £56,000 from volunteer grant fund

Nicholas Thomas, local democracy reporter

A council has been accused of trying to “rob” the volunteer sector by reclaiming unspent money a committee believed was ring-fenced.

The balance of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Grants to the Voluntary Sector (GTVS) Fund stood at more than £87,000 at the end of the most recent financial year, but the council has since removed around £56,000 “due to the financial position the authority faces”.

At a meeting of the council’s voluntary sector liaison committee, on Thursday July 11, several members expressed dismay that the council had slashed the GTVS coffers, and – they claimed – hampered the chances of smaller volunteer groups.

Appalling

Committee member Roger Evans called the decision “an appalling way to treat voluntary organisations” and said the GTVS funds “keep many afloat” in the sector.

“Many will see it as a slap in the face to volunteers,” he added.

Cllr Judith Pritchard, another member of the committee, questioned why the council had removed the money from the fund when “in February [it] said the money was ring-fenced”.

“It’s pretty obvious the council has taken away half of the underspend,” she added.

Steve Harris, the council’s head of financial services, confirmed the local authority had changed its policy for underspends “for one year” in light of wider budget pressures.

Normally, 50% of underspends are returned to the council’s general fund, but for 2023/24 this rate rose to 100%.

Savings

Caerphilly Council expects it will have to find around £45m in further savings over the next two years, Mr Harris said, adding that only the “in-year” budget for the GTVS – this year worth £8,735 – is ring-fenced.

Cllr Pritchard, however, said she was “not satisfied” with the policy and argued the grant fund set up to help the county borough’s volunteers “should not have been part of this general movement” to recoup underspends.

“In my view it’s an extremely unsatisfactory situation,” she added.

Mr Evans alleged that to “rob £56,000” was “not a democratic way”.

He also suggested the underspend built up in recent years was a result of the application system being too complex.

Cllr Marina Chacon-Dawson, who chairs the committee, asked “how much assurance do we get that that fund is still going to be there” next year.

Mr Harris said the council was facing “major financial challenges going forward”.

“I can’t give any guarantees at this point in time,” he told the committee.

Council policy officer Vicky Doyle said applications for GTVS funding would likely end up being treated as a “first come, first served” process as a result of the changes to underspends.