Charity cuts will be a bitter blow says Liberals

Commenting on the National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (NCVO) quarterly Charity Forecast Survey, which shows that 77 per cent of respondents believe economic conditions within the voluntary sector will be negative for the next year, Jenny Willott, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Third Sector, said:

“Public funding cuts for the third sector would deal a bitter blow for charities that have fought tooth and nail to survive the recession.

“The fear is that, if the Tories come to power, they will have one overriding priority: squeezing the public finances. This would be a kick in the teeth to the very sector that David Cameron says he wants to rely on.

“There may well be ways to improve the efficiency and user-friendliness of charitable funding. But any savings should be reinvested into making the sector more robust and should not be an excuse for a Tory tax cut.”