Labour has called on the government to carry out a comprehensive review on the impact of their budget plans on charities and voluntary organisations.
The call comes after research published on Tuesday suggested that vital services for many of society’s most vulnerable people would be facing £86 million worth of cuts this year. The reduction will affect 2,000 charities across England, with those serving children and young people being hardest hit.
Harriet Harman MP, Labour’s Deputy Leader and Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, said that government policy threatened to "wipe out" charities which had taken years to establish through reckless budget cuts. She added the Tories could not claim to be supporters of the "Big Society" whilst putting local services, jobs and volunteer networks at risk.
This survey just scratches the surface of the challenges facing our charities – it is even worse when you take into account the millions of pounds lost as a result of the VAT rise, and of cuts to charities from the Tory-led Government. We still do not have a complete picture of the impact of the government’s actions.