Crawley council cuts £200,000 from budget to support voluntary and community groups

The financial impact of Covid-19 has hit the council hard, making this year tough when it comes to presenting a balanced budget – something it is required to do by law.

As a result, the community grants programme pot will be cut from £632,000 to £421,000.

The change was agreed at a meeting of the cabinet last week.

Leader Peter Lamb said: “Due to the budget and the need to reduce our expenditure in line with our new income, it is proposed that charitable giving by the council is cut by a third.

“It’s worth noting that still makes us twice as generous as any council of our type in the country and that we also give a range of commercial property to these charities that would ordinarily not be given by a council.

“So we remain incredibly generous by any standard – but it does mean a number of organisations will be affected.”