The future of numerous voluntary groups in Keighley will be placed in jeopardy if Bradford council makes proposed cuts in the voluntary sector's £6.2 million budget.

That is the warning from Caroline Schwaller, chief executive of Keighley Voluntary Services, in response to news of a 4 per cent cut in next year's budget. Caroline says: "It's going to be appalling. It's not only going to undermine existing organisations but it will also reduce the pot for everyone. What they expect us to do I really don't know.

"Again and again voluntary work is being threatened by cuts. I think there's a real fear that this budget change is going to cause serious problems."

Last week voluntary groups in Keighley met to discuss the implications of new funding arrangements whereby Bradford council will decide which services are required and then offer contracts to the groups who can provide the service.

Caroline says that while the commissioning approach may work for some groups others will suffer. With the added threat of budget cut backs she says the future looks bleak for a number of Keighley's 200 voluntary organisations.

"The newly emerging projects would find it very difficult to get into the system but it would also threaten the smaller organisations," says Caroline.

She adds: "We need to raise the profile of the voluntary sector and make the council more aware of what we put into the community."

Opponents of the cut say a 4 per cent cut would be raised to around 7 per cent after inflation, meaning a cut of nearly £500,000 throughout Bradford.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, the council's executive committee member who oversees the voluntary sector, says no plans have been made for next year's budget.

She adds: "There is an instruction, given by the chief executive, that 3 per cent must come off all budgets for next year. How that will impact on each individual section of the budget I don't know."

Councillor Lynn Joyce says: "I have heard rumours which I want to challenge and I want to get some hard figures on. I have heard the cuts deemed necessary will be taken out of the voluntary sector budget.

She says the services provided by the voluntary sector are wrongly seen as an "easy target".

Philip Baldwin, chief of Bradford council's community grants unit, says: "The council hasn't set its budget for next year yet so formally there isn't a position on reductions for next year."