Edinburgh, Sept.22: Charities faced a huge setback after the city council’s move to cut the grants assured to them early this year. They are planning to sue the council as a protest against the move. Charities under the purview of the council fear that the reduction in the grant will be a hurdle in their path of service and some charities will be closed as the outcome of this.
The new budget in this regard was given sanction yesterday by the councillors. The approval of this budget was against the pleas of the voluntary sectors. The education leader of the city, Councillor Marilyne Mac Laren registered her disappointment over this decision.
While responding to this decision Ian Boardman, member of the Edinburgh Network of Voluntary Organizations for Children, Young People and Families, said: “The Community groups are taking legal advice to see if there is any legal proceedings to help their way out of this”.
He further added that “Individual organizations should have to make the decisions themselves, but some are considering legal action. They are trying to clarify whether the funding agreement signed between themselves and the council is of a contractual nature”.
Meanwhile several organizations made heart-felt pleas to the council on behalf of their groups, many of which serve the most vulnerable members of society. Christine Richards, of Smile Childcare, based in Wester Hailes, added: “We are being cut so close to the bone that it may result in a situation where the company is trading as insolvent. We may have to close down.”
While reacting to these mixed responses of the charities, Councillor Ewan Aitken, the city’s Labour leader, claimed the cuts were “undermining years of work building positive relations with the voluntary sector, that at this moment are shattered. They’ve been reduced to asking for legal advice - that can’t be good for us as a city.”
Councillor Jeremy Balfour, the city’s Tory education spokesman, said: “The trust factor has gone. In future are we going to hold our hands up [when handing out grants] and say we can’t guarantee we will provide, for example, money for this service for the homeless”.
The decision to slash the grant in total humiliated the Charity organizations to a greater extend. While the council is considering this as a codifying attempt.
