ANOTHER 43 third sector groups have missed out on council cash under the controversial Communities Fund – but £23m has been shared between more than 130 projects.

One community representative said being asked to approve recommended funding allocations was “a bit like a gun to your head”.

They had been told there was “no Plan B” if the recommendations were rejected.

Council officers had assessed and scored applications to the new fund, which has replaced the Integrated Grant Fund, to make their suggestions.

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But funding panels to discuss the proposals with community representatives were cancelled “due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions”.

Over £12.5m will be handed out to 67 groups in the north east of the city but 22 miss out.

In the north west, there will be more than £10m given to 65 projects, with 21 applicants being rejected.

In total, £47m has been handed out to third sector groups across the city.

However, 134 citywide projects and 54 organisations in the south sector also missed out on funding.

At Thursday’s full council meeting, Tory councillor Robert Connelly asked Jennifer Layden, city convener for community empowerment, equalities and human rights, to apologise to charities.

She did not say sorry but “acknowledged the varied responses” and “the anger and upset” caused.

A £4m transition fund for the advice sector, violence against women organisations, communities of interest and equalities groups who missed out has been launched.

Recommendations for that funding will be revealed on Monday, with a decision made on Thursday. A review of the application process will also take place.

Ms Layden said: “There is a clear need to reflect on the process.”

She also said the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector had recognised the old fund, which wasn’t open to as many applicants, was not sustainable.

They have said some services “currently funded are so important they are not appropriate for a discretionary grants scheme”, Ms Layden added.

Councillor Malcolm Balfour told the north west sector meeting there was a “block vote” on the recommendations.

“There is no Plan B if there’s a vote to reject,” he said. “None of the organisations would get funded at this time.”

Tam Munro, from the North West Voluntary Sector Network, said being asked to make a funding decision was “a bit like a gun to your head”.

“If you don’t approve it the adverse impact to third sector organisations will be even more profound.”

He added: “The process that has been utilised has severely failed. There was no local input to the assessment process.”

Mr Munro abstained from the vote, and was joined by voluntary sector representative Martina Johnston-Gray.

She said: “Winners and losers are for athletics and football; winners and losers aren’t for the most vulnerable citizens of Glasgow.

“We can’t have winners and losers when there’s people dying in Glasgow.”

Councillor Chris Cunningham, SNP, said: “There is no point in disguising this is a very unsatisfactory position we have now found ourselves in.”

He supported opening the fund to more applicants but said confidential scoring meant the panel did not understand the rationale behind decisions.

At the north east sector meeting, SNP councillor Allan Casey said: “The process hasn’t been smooth and that’s understandable. It’s been an extremely challenging task for the administration and officers.

“The benefits of that is evidently clear today when we see 27 organisations, who were previously locked out from this fund, receiving funding.”