Councils from Liverpool to Bromley have cut voluntary sector funding; but Reading
Borough Council is defying the trend. It will increase its voluntary sector funding by more than £200,000 in 2011-12. This will be achieved by transferring £956,000 in loose grants to
strict revenue contracts, which deliver greater value for money. This is part of a wider administrative rationalisation that raised an extra £181,000 for local groups, which will now apply
for cash on a clearly specified basis to ensure that frugality survives the current efficiency drive.
An efficiency drive was certainly needed. The detailed appendices to Reading’s Budget Grants (here for commissioning intentions and here for information on grants, cuts and savings) reveal a pattern of questionable donations. An arts and crafts organisation specialising in handmade goods received £2,835 annually with no questions asked; and the local non-league football club received £2,690.
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