High Court to hear London Councils grant scheme JR this week

A High Court hearing into the decision by the London Councils group to cut its £26.4m grants scheme by as much as 80% is to take place this Thursday.

The claimants – service users of two of the organisations affected, the Roma Support Group and the nia project – are being advised by law firm Pierce Glynn on the judicial review proceedings.

They have previously argued that the process involved in cutting the budget was “unfair” and the timetable “so tight that they had no option to involve the High Court”.

There were also concerns that London Councils had failed to consider equality issues carefully.

In November the claimants’ solicitor Louise Whitfield said: “The grants scheme was specifically set up to provide London-wide services to the most vulnerable groups that would not or could not be provided by individual boroughs.

"The services used by my clients are educational support for Roma children and a specialist refuge for women fleeing domestic violence with funding for both projects meant to continue to 2012. However, London Councils have made a preliminary assessment that these services are ‘local’ and indicated that their funding may be cut as early as March 2011.”

The two organisations would face “extraordinary difficulty” in securing alternative sources in the three months’ notice given by London Councils of the potential cut in funding, she added.