Grant cut threat to over-50s

Group baffled by refusal

grants to voluntary organisations totalling nearly £1 million next year.

“The funding will go towards helping local groups provide voluntary services in West Lothian.

“The council needs to reduce its overall spending by £ 65 million by 2022/ 23 due to increasing costs combined with insufficient funding from the Scottish Government, who provide us with 80 per cent of our funding.

“£16 million has to be reduced from our budget in 2019/20 alone and that has a huge impact on our ability to deliver some local services, including our ability to provide funding to local voluntary groups.

“Despite an overall reduction in the amount of funding we can allocate via voluntary organisation grants, a great number of groups and individuals will benefit from the funding.

“All organisations were aware, prior to them applying for grants, that the council had less funding than previous years to allocate.

“The total funds applied for totalled over £1.6 million which is significantly above the council’s budget for this year and next year.

“Given budget restrictions, the council asked an independent panel to consider all voluntary applications to allocate the £944,000 to organisations who applied for the grant funding. They assessed each application and made their decision based on which applications had the greatest impact and were most aligned to the council’s priorities.

“We understand that some organisations will be disappointed with their allocation. However, the council has less money to spend than in previous years which makes it impossible for us to maintain the same level grant allocation.

“We have made each organisation aware of the outcome of the applications and outlined alternative support available to them. Council officers will offer to work with the group between now and March in an effort to identify alternative funding arrangements.”