Volunteer groups in Greenwich could face a funding cut of £1.4m as the council’s top team agrees its budget for the next four years.

The council’s cabinet last week ticked off its framework for funding voluntary groups in the borough.

Citing government cuts as the reason behind it, members agreed a new budget of £2.7m to be awarded for the voluntary sector, down from £4.1 in the last cycle.

The council reviews its allocation amounts every four years, and as an “indicative” figure, it was agreed that £2.7m is currently available.

According to its report: “As a result of the reduction in grant funding and the new funding cycle previously funded organisations might find themselves with a significant drop in revenue.”

Speaking at the meeting, deputy council leader David Gardner said: “Firstly this £2.7m by no mean represents the totality of the council’s support to the voluntary sector, there are other areas as well that we do commission the voluntary sector to support the provision of services.

“This is still, despite public health cuts, one of the largest pots in London in terms of our third sector commissioning spend.

“We need to be mindful of that and have to improve the capacity and the ability of our voluntary sector to leverage other funds from other statutory bodies and their own fundraising.  It’s very important to work with the voluntary sector through this process so that overall they can contribute more and more.”

The council also agreed a new application process should be introduced to help “provide assurance over the use of public funds”, and is currently consulting on changes.

According to the council report, previous grant applications also featured lengthy forms to fill out and repeating questions.

One comment from the sector said: “The previous commissioning application process was not only very lengthy and time-consuming, but there were elements of repetition within the questions, particularly on monitoring. The need for scrutiny and governance would benefit by being balanced with a realistic and concise approach.”

Speaking at the meeting, council leader Dan Thorpe said: “This is about partnership with the voluntary sector, it's something the sector has asked us to do and we have responded to.”