Charities must remember that local authorities’ responsibilities are to the vulnerable people in their local area and to their taxpayers, not to charities, a local Councillor told a debate in Westminster yesterday.
Cllr Robert Evans was speaking during a panel discussion in a committee room in the Houses of Parliament on the problem of local authorities passing on heavier budget cuts to local charities delivering services, than they are bearing themselves.
The ‘Cuts in the Community’ debate was organised by Charities Aid Foundation to promote some new survey results into how members of the public feel about disproportionate cuts to charities.
The discussion was dominated by sector representatives citing evidence that plenty of councils are still making charities bear the brunt of their funding cuts, and bemoaning the unfairness and short-sightedness of this practice.
There were some examples of good practice too - one local government spokesman, Nick Paget-Brown, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, told how his council had not only protected the voluntary sector budget but allocated a one-off additional fudning pot of £500,000 to it this year – an announcement that went down well with the panel and the largely voluntary sector audience.
But just at the end of the 90-minute debate came an intervention from Conservative Cllr Robert Evans, portfolio holder for care services at Bromley Council. He reminded the attendees that councils are not accountable to their local voluntary sector, but to their constituents.
“I think my main responsibilities are to the vulnerable people in Bromley and to the taxpayers in Bromley,” he said. “I have no brief for the charities themselves.
"So I am really not too bothered about who is going to provide the service, it’s the vulnerable people I am concerned about, not whether such-and-such a charity exists or doesn’t.
“We can’t be bound to any sorts of thoughts like, ‘oh it would be nice to give a grant to this charity’, because grants no longer exist, for one thing. We in Bromley are working towards being a totally commissioned authority because that’s the only way we can go, it’s the only way we can make the money go round.”
Pickles: Government has set clear expectations of councils
Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles released a statement ahead of yesterday's debate, saying councils must "resist any temptation to pull up the drawbridge on the voluntary sector by passing on disproportionate savings".
"We have set out clear expectations for councils," he said. "The best councils are those that work with their local voluntary and community partners in the interests of local people whilst managing to balance the books."
CAF survey results
CAF's latest survey, of 2,012 adults, found that 72 per cent do not want councillors to cut funding to charities by more than they cut other services.
According to the ComRes survey, more than two-thirds of people fear that local communities will suffer if charity funding is cut by councils and two-thirds are worried that cuts to charities will personally affect them in the future.
Only a quarter thought the government is doing enough to support charities in the current economic environment. But fewer than one in three people polled (29 per cent) were aware that charities can be funded through payments from government for providing services.
