MID Devon District Council's Community Well-Being Policy Development Group (PDG) has met to consider proposals for the Council's budget for 2010-11.

Crediton Councillor David Nation, who also chairs the Council's Scrutiny Committee, attacked the Council for holding a "secret meeting" at which a few members of the PDG were asked to consider a reduction of £50,000 in a £156,000 budget for voluntary groups.

The group included Tiverton Museum, Citizens' Advice and numerous local arts organisation.

Other councillors, including the Council's Chairman, complained that they had not been informed about the meeting and had not seen the papers presented on that occasion.

Cllr Nation said that he intended to have that matter considered elsewhere. That meeting suggested cuts amounting to around £15,000.

Many local organisations were represented and spoke at the beginning of the meeting against any reductions in their grants, contending that these were often essential to meet their core funding needs and lever in additional income.

Cllr Nation urged the PDG to recommend no cuts in these grants because, he said, the voluntary organisations offered: "Far better value for money than this Council could ever offer."

He referred to a major exercise undertaken by the Scrutiny Committee a year ago, which showed that £1 invested in voluntary organisations brought £6 into the district.

He reminded councillors that the Executive had agreed that grants should be considered on their merits and not only if they contributed to the Council's corporate priorities.

Cllr Nation complained that the Council "attacked voluntary groups every year," yet their budgets were a tiny fraction of the Council's overall budget. He said that, on a worst-case analysis, the Council needed to reduce budgets by £235,000 next year and meetings had already identified reductions of £280,000 so further reductions were unnecessary.

Cllr Bob Wright (Crediton, Lib Dem) proposed that the grants budget should remain unaltered. He was seconded by Cllr Paul Williams (Tiverton, Lib Dem) but the PDG Chair, Cllr Michael Lee (Sandford, Conservative) used his casting vote to defeat the proposal.

The PDG then voted to restrict the reduction to £8,000 in the Project Grants budget, saving the likes of Tiverton Museum, Villages in Action, Crediton Arts Centre and other arts groups from any reduction.

However, this would leave little or no funds for small "ad hoc" grants.

The recommendations went to the Executive Committee on November 26. The Council's budget will not finally be confirmed until February.