COMMUNITIES SECRETARY Eric Pickles has praised Thurrock Council for their continuing financial support of voluntary organisations.
His statement comes after the Brentwood MP warned he was prepared to take immediate steps to legislate to stop “disproportionate” cuts being inflicted on charities.
In what was seen as a marked change of stance, the minister said he was willing to block cuts that did not meet a test of reasonableness by inserting provision in the localism bill, currently going through parliament.
The move will be interpreted as a sharp dilution of the government’s localism agenda, which devolves all responsibility for spending decisions to local level, and will be viewed by some as a loss of nerve in the face of mounting negative publicity about the impact of charity cuts on David Cameron’s “big society” vision reports The Guardian.
It also goes against Thurrock Conservatives’ plans to reduce the funding for Thurrock charities so to encourage more of them to become “self sustaining”.
Although there was scepticism as to whether Pickles would follow through on his threat to legislate, voluntary sector leaders thought his comments – in particular the reasonableness test that he spelled out – could be used in legal challenges being brought by charities that are facing severe cuts.
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), said: “This is a shift. He is saying that, yes, it is for local authorities to determine what they do, but only provided they act reasonably. I think he is prepared to accept there are limits to localism.”
Pickles said there were councils that proved that local government could continue to support charities. Thurrock Council and Wolverhampton were both maintaining existing levels of support, while Reading was increasing it. There was no reason why others could not follow suit.
“But what you and I know is that some councils aren’t on the same page as these reforming councils. They don’t seem to get it. And I will be frank: this is a grave concern to the government.”
Pointing out that the term was a legal principle, Pickles said the government had a reasonable expectation that councils would not impose disproportionate cuts on charities – and would “not inflict bigger reductions to your budgets than they take on themselves”.
