Voluntary groups are "apprehensive and agitated" about radical changes to the grants system which could mean they have to bid to run council services.

Members of Bradford Council's Environment Scrutiny Committee, which is examining the proposals, were told of their fears at a meeting last night when it was agreed to hold full discussions with organisations.

The new proposal would see the council deciding in advance what services it wanted the voluntary sector to provide and groups would then bid to provide them. Under the old system, groups apply for grants to provide their own services.

Other options being considered include making no changes - which is highly unlikely - or using an independent body to allocate grants.

The commissioning system would be the first of its type in Britain so there are no models which can be studied by voluntary sector groups.

But today Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, the executive's member for environment, said all observations made by the scrutiny committee would be taken into consideration.

Consultation meetings began this week with the organisations involved. But Dave Rogers, chairman of the district's Voluntary Forum, said people already had reservations about the proposals.

He said: "The danger is we lose new and innovative ideas at grass roots level if a prescribed commission order system is put into place."

He added it was sad that councillors who were expert at the grants system had been forced to declare interests and leave the meeting.

Philip Baldwin, officer responsible for community grants, said: "The groups are agitated. It is a big change which will radically affect them. A number of people have asked about jobs."

The council currently deals with about 170 groups applying for grants to provide services including advice centres and youth groups.

The present system sparked demonstrations in Bradford's Centenary Square when introduced two years ago because organisations had to fill in complicated forms and were awarded points, measuring their services against the district's community plan.