Judge quashes £10m of London funding cuts
Howard Lake | 31 January 2011 | News
A Judge has ruled that London Councils’ decision to cut £10 million of funding was flawed and that three London charities have won the right to a judicial review. All the funding cut decisions for 200 plus projects were quashed, which would have affected tens of thousands of Londoners.
Mr Justice Calvert-Smith ruled that London Councils’ consultation process was flawed and that they had failed to meet their statutory equality duties. Furthermore the three charities should also receive further funding beyond any fresh decision made following the new process, in line with Compact principles.
London Councils must now re-run the process, this time with full equality impact assessments.
Every local authority in England has a Compact, which clearly sets out arrangements for managing change. These include carrying out impact assessments, consulting with groups and organisations, and giving at least three months notice to ending or changing any funding.
Simon Blake, Chair of Compact Voice, welcomed the ruling, saying: “This ruling is good news for service users and the voluntary and community organisations that work hard to provide them with vital services. Our sector is facing massive cuts in-spite of councils promising to prioritise front line services. Only by working together with our sector can local and national authorities fully assess the impacts of proposed cuts and set their budgets to the best interests of their communities and citizens.
“With major changes in relationships and funding across the country, more than ever both parties need to know, and stick by, the ‘rules of the game’.”
www.compactvoice.org.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.