CITY leaders have been accused of showing a “cavalier disregard” and “discrimination” against York’s voluntary sector and residents following controversial funding changes.

Linda Tester, advocacy service manager for Older Citizens Advocacy York (OCAY), said its planning for 2012/13 had been made “impossible” due to uncertainty over whether it will receive funding through the new rules, which she said were a “huge blow”.

She said changes to the council funding system, which means more money is distributed from a central pot rather than separate neighbourhood budgets, had caused confusion over its finances.

She also claimed the system “discriminates” against certain groups and that OCAY, which provides information and guidance for the elderly through volunteers, was not told about the impending changes when it applied to 15 ward committees for funding earlier this year.

She said residents who had previously outlined where they wanted money to go were now being ignored.

In a letter to the council’s neighbourhood management unit head, Kate Bowers – copied to council leader James Alexander and local councillors and seen by The Press – she said: “Small organisations like ours can ill-afford to wait until halfway through the financial year before knowing whether we will be receiving funding.”

She said the council was guilty of “extremely bad practice” which showed “scant regard” for the work of the voluntary sector in York.

Ms Tester said: “This sudden change in the arrangement of funding definitely discriminates against organisations like OCAY who work city-wide.”

City of York Council altered its ward committee funding system earlier this year, cutting £220,000 from the neighbourhood management section.

It is planned that an outside organisation will manage a £141,000 pot, but will itself take £14,000 from that in costs.

Ms Tester said: “While I understand economies have to be made, this sudden change of the rules without warning is fundamentally wrong.

“The older people of the city deserve much better than this.”

Coun George Barton, deputy leader of the council’s Conservative group, branded the changes “an absolute shambles”, saying they were “badly thought-out and fly in the face of true democracy”.

He said organisations such as playgroups, play parks and youth clubs also faced closure through underfunding.

Coun Dafydd Williams, cabinet member for communities issues, said Government cuts meant the council had to prioritise core services.

He said: “We have been faced with the pressure of a number of charities submitting bids to many ward committees to prop up their core funding in recent years. That is neither sustainable nor an appropriate use of local ward committee money earmarked for very local schemes.”

He said the council was exploring new ways to fund the voluntary sector and hoped OCAY would look to receive funding that way.

Last week, the Red Cross warned that the health of elderly people was being jeopardised due to “dangerous and short-sighted” cuts in home care services, and called for a rethink on care.