A UNIVERSITY leader with years of experience in the voluntary sector has spoken of fears for York’s charities.

Prof Chris Bailey, who retired to York four years ago after a career in university administration, has been involved in the voluntary sector for three decades.

He is worried about the city council’s budget plans, and says he cannot understand why city leaders are aiming for lower council tax increases at the expense of vital work in areas like care for older people.

The budget plans include cuts for preventative and early intervention projects - both from the council and from the voluntary sector.

Prof Bailey said while the council’s health strategies and documents back that kind of early intervention work, he fears for the future of smaller charities and organisations in York, who rely on small bits and pieces of grant funding from the council to carry on doing crucial work with older people, people with disabilities, and other groups.

Work like that can help people stay well and independent, and stop pressures building up on the already stretched NHS services.

Prof Bailey said he was glad to see City of York aiming for a full three percent increase in council tax for social care funding, but cannot understand why leaders want to take only 0.7 percent general increase, when they could take up to 1.99 per cent.

“I think it’s justified. It’s my guess that the bulk of the population of York - if it were explained carefully - would understand. I don’t know who councillors are trying to impress.”

In many ways the blame cannot lie with the local authority, he said, as central government decisions are hitting their powers hard but councils do still have some powers to try and reflect what people in their areas want.