By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Opposition councillors fear “vital” community groups could be left struggling after a fund to support them was reduced.
Nottinghamshire County Council has approved its 2023/24 budget, including a planned 4.84 per cent council tax increase for all households.
However, within the budget proposals was a £2,000 reduction for each councillor’s divisional fund (CDF).
Previously, each elected member could distribute £5,000 to groups in their area including support for food banks, charities and voluntary organisations.
But this fund has now been reduced to £3,000 for each of the 66 councillors on the authority as part of plans to claw back £132,000 in savings.
The Independent Alliance opposition had put forward an amended budget proposal which included reinstating the £2,000 cut, funded through contingency cash and an increased numbers of homes paying council tax.
However, this was voted down by 46 votes to 14 due to other proposals in the group’s documents.
During the debate, on Thursday (February 9), councillors from both Labour and the Independent Alliance raised concerns about the loss of CDF cash.
Councillor Helen-Ann Smith (Ash Ind), who represents Sutton North, said: “By reducing the allocation in the CDF, we’re reducing the opportunities for some of the most deprived areas in Nottinghamshire.
“I cannot support anything that cuts funding to the voluntary sector when the amount of vital work they do for our residents is unmistakable.
“If it wasn’t for those groups, those volunteers and their determination, a lot of people would be lonely, have nobody to talk to or have had no support during the pandemic.”
Cllr Michelle Welsh (Lab), who represents Arnold South, added: “We’re giving money to soup kitchens, food banks, to warm rooms because people can’t heat their houses.
“That is an indictment of what the Government has done to our communities and now this is going to take money from our communities.
“It’s absolutely deplorable.”
However, Cllr Richard Jackson (Con), cabinet member for finance, said before the meeting the savings would mean cash could be provided to groups in other ways.
Speaking in the debate, he added: “The CDF cannot be used to provide voluntary bodies with ongoing funding to meet running costs.
“We make separate provisions for that kind of support through the revenue element of the Local Communities Fund, which is not being reduced.
“LCF will remain at the same level next year as this year.
“The CDF enables members to make small, one-off awards to people or groups in their electoral division for community benefit. As such, it has always been a discretionary fund.
“The cabinet’s view is that members should sacrifice a small amount of their own discretionary spending power to fund wider budget priorities, focused on support to our communities at this challenging time.”
Cllr Philip Owen (Con), who represents Nuthall and Kimberley, also spoke in the meeting to defend the continued support for the CDF.
He said: “Despite the proposed changes to the CDF, it remains an extremely generous component of our budget.
“Certainly, it’s generous in comparison with many other authorities. Somerset and East Suffolk don’t have one, Leicestershire had a scheme and got rid of it, Cumbria, Northamptonshire and Herefordshire, no [CDF].
“Our scheme is remaining fairly generous.”
The Conservative administration’s wider budget proposals were approved by 33 votes to 27.
