Minister's warning over council funding cuts to voluntary groups

He warned authority chiefs he would be "monitoring the situation very carefully indeed" to ensure community groups and social enterprises reliant upon council money did not lose out as leaders and chief executives try to cut millions of pounds from their budgets.

He conceded such charities would inevitably be affected by swingeing 28 per cent cuts to council funding, but told those controlling the purse strings: "If you feel you have to make cuts to the voluntary sector, speak to them, engage in consultations and have proper conversations."

He said charities did have a responsibility to make the case for funding to authorities and added: "Councils are faced with very difficult choices but before you start cutting look at your own services to see what efficiencies can be made."

Mr Hurd's warning came after he delivered a speech at the Big Society Unplugged conference in Sheffield. The event at St Mary's Conference Centre, discussed what the Conservative's vision for Britain meant for the third sector in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The Minister reiterated his support for the Yorkshire Post Communities in Need appeal, saying: "I'm very keen to encourage that. In my experience people are affected by a call to help and they do respond."

He said public donations were one of the areas charities could do more to harness and pointed to private investment and extra public service contracts as other avenues:

"There are three big opportunities in terms of getting more resources into the sector. There should be more space for charities to do the magical work of getting people back to work and keeping people out of prison... we should grow these markets of corporate sector investment... (and] all of us should respond to the challenge beyond just paying our taxes."

Mr Hurd said a special allocation of 100m in Government funding would be available to charities by the end of the month.