Council Hands over £356k in annual grants to Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise as review of the funding stalls

Westmorland and Furness Council has agreed to roll over £356,662 in community grant funding for another year, after failing to complete a review of how the money should be distributed.

A decision signed off on 4 March 2026 by the councils Director of Thriving Communities, confirms funding for organisations in the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector will continue unchanged into 2026/27.

The long-promised review of grant funding—intended to reshape how money is allocated—has been delayed, with a new cross-directorate review now not expected to influence decisions until 2027 at the earliest.

Instead, the council will pay out grants to the ten organisations at the same levels it gave them in 2025.

The report confirms the following annual grants will be provided by the council to:

Citizen’s Advice Barrow – £49,280

Citizen’s Advice Carlisle and Eden – £20,050

Citizen’s Advice South Lakeland – £80,000

Cumbria Association of Local Councils – £22,192

ACT Cumbria – £21,250

Barrow and District Disability Association – £7,330

Cumbria CVS – £126,560

Scouts – £10,000

Girlguiding – £10,000

Young Farmers – £10,000

This council committee to handing out the £356,662 in grants despite not having the full funding available in the directorates budget with the Director of Thriving Communities adding “It is currently proposed that this budget is carried forward to 26/27. The difference will be found from savings elsewhere in Safe

& Strong Communities.”

 The largest single allocation of the grant funding goes to Cumbria CVS, receiving more than a third of the funding.

One of the organisations Cumbria Association of Local Council Ltd also has its head office registered with companies house as Voreda House in Penrith in addition to the grant funding.

The council had previously carried out a wide-ranging review following local government reorganisation, including consultation with VCFSE groups and plans for multi-year funding from 2026 to 2029. However, this has now been paused due to budget pressures and folded into a broader review by the council.

More than half of organisations consulted said funding was their biggest challenge.

The council says the rollover is intended to avoid disruption, particularly where funding affects staffing and frontline services, with letters being sent to confirm a 12-month extension to the ten organisations.

However, the decision means another year of funding uncertainty for organisations without an updated policy in place giving no long term security on how funding will be allocated and whether priorities of the council will change.

A full review is now expected to take place during 2026, with any changes unlikely to come into effect before 2027 when the council could see changes to it priorities after the May 2027 elections take place.