MORE than £3million has been slashed from charity and voluntary groups’ budgets by councils, a Lancashire Telegraph investigation has revealed.

Some local authorities in East Lancashire have been accused of taking the ‘easy option’ by cutting funding to the groups by as much as 100 per cent.

Charity bosses said groups had been plunged into their ‘worst ever crisis’ at a time when they were needed ‘more than ever’.

There are also fears over hundreds of jobs in the sector, as well as increased hardship for people who rely on the affected groups.

The Lancashire Telegraph used the Freedom of Information (FOI) to discover the funding for every local charity.

Cuts to the groups had been feared, but the full extent can emerge for the first time as the new financial year got underway this month heralding the first wave of cuts.

The FOI revealed Blackburn with Darwen Council will cut £2.1million from grants to charities this year. That is around half of last year’s £4.16million budget.

Burnley Council and Pendle Council are also making deep cuts.

In Burnley just £148,000 has been earmarked to voluntary and charitable groups so far for this year, down from £1,271,435 in 2009/2010 and £924,658 last year.

And in Pendle last year £794,364 was spent but only £245,910 has been allocated so far this year.

The levels of cuts in Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley and Pendle outstrip cuts made to other areas of the councils’ work which are typically around 25 per cent.

Two councils, Ribble Valley and Pendle said that the sector was so important that they would maintain their spending in the coming year.

Hyndburn Council refused to reveal its spending in the area.

All of the councils said that further spending could still be announced for the coming year.

Charity representatives said the cuts called into question whether there was substance behind the Conservative notion of a Big Society which aims to create community involvement and a ‘new culture of voluntarism and philanthropy’.

Garth Hodgkinson, from Blackburn with Darwen Community Voluntary Service which represents charity and voluntary groups, said the situation was a 'double whammy' given levels of deprivation in East Lancashire.

He said: "Here are some charities that have already this year faced significant cuts and many more will face tough times in 2011.

“Currently we employ 22 people but we could lose five or six because our funding is under threat.

“As people become more vulnerable they need the support of the charity and voluntary sector."

Terry Hephrun, from the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale CVS, said the situation on his patch was ‘devastating’.

He said: “The local authorities have been disproportionately affected by the central government cuts because the levels of poverty and deprivation here have simply not been taken in to account.

“So those groups and charities that support such deprived areas are now needed more than ever, but are themselves facing an uncertain future.

“There is so much uncertainty around now and it is a great worry.”

Graham Jones, Hyndburn MP, said the situation was a scandal, adding: “The Tory idea of a Big Society is a joke if this is what happens to the vital charities and volunteer groups.

“The government has failed to understand the huge value that these charities bring, particularly to an area like East Lancashire.

“It is inevitable that local councils protect core services but, when the funding to charities is cut, it has a massive effect.

“There are so many of these groups that this time next year, or even in a few months, will simply cease to exist and that is a tragedy.”

But Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans questioned how some councils made cuts to charities, while others, including his borough’s, did not.

He said: “Sometimes the cuts are not made in the right places as far as I'm concerned.

"It does beg the question why can Ribble Valley Council avoid charity cuts when it has frozen council tax this year and other authorities cannot?

"I do hope local authorities will look at other areas to make cuts and take a holistic view of what they do.”

A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council warned reductions in spending were to continue.

He said: “Negotiations continue to set the level of grants for 2011/12.

“Consideration is being given in view of budget restrictions versus priority of front-line services.

“It is expected that reduced levels of funding will continue over the next three to four years.”

Some of the charities and voluntary groups affected

  • Blackburn Groundwork youth inclusion programme £50,200 cut altogether
  • Blackburn YMCA £53,800 cut altogether
  • Blackburn Rovers Community Trust £35,709 cut altogether
  • Blackburn with Darwen Citizen’s Advice Bureau £29,500 cut to £22,167
  • Blackburn with Darwen Council for Voluntary Service £101,906 cut to £76,500
  • East Lancashire Women’s Refuge Association £51,061 cut to £30,000
  • Pendle Open Door Furniture Recycling £50,470 cut altogether
  • Brierfield Action in the Community £56,650 cut altogether
  • Pendle Prince’s Trust £30,900 cut altogether
  • Building Bridges Pendle £58,350 cut altogether
  • Burnley and District Citizens Advice Service £105,285 cut to £78,285
  • Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Council for Voluntary Service £94,405 cut to £28,500