WEST Somerset Council has approved a 2012/13 budget of almost £5 million and stepped back from making large-scale charity funding cuts in the process.

In line with a recommendation from the ruling cabinet, a majority of councillors at last Wednesday's full council meeting gave their approval to a £4.93 million budget for the forthcoming year.

They were told original plans to axe thousands of pounds of charity funding and a proposal to drop a discretionary rate relief scheme had all been ditched.

As previously reported in the Free Press, children's charity CLOWNS had been lined up for a 75 per cent grant cut while others, including the West Somerset Advice Bureau, ArtLife, HomeStart and Engage, all stood to lose 13.98 per cent of their district council funding - the amount West Somerset Council had lost in its own Government grant funding package.

But after hearing of the impact the cuts would have on the groups, councillors had a rethink and re-drew their figures.

The advice bureau will now keep its £38,000 grant, HomeStart will retain its £3,000 funding package and Engage will hang on to its £3,000 grant.

CLOWNS will still receive a funding cut, but on a much lesser scale than the 75 per cent originally proposed.

Instead, it will lose 13.98 per cent or £1,398 of its £10,000 grant in the forthcoming year.

A similar 13.98 per cent cut will also be imposed on ArtLife, taking its grant from £14,700 to £12,645.

The cuts form part of a wider £159,457 council-approved savings package, designed to help the authority bridge an anticipated £1.3 million funding gap in the coming years.

As well as cuts to charities, the savings in the 2012/13 budget also include in-house cost savings and a reduction in the grant given to the Quantock Hills AONB service.

However, plans to save cash by abandoning a popular discretionary rate relief scheme for charities and non profit-making organisations was in itself dropped after councillors were told it was invaluable and should be retained.

Members voted to continue giving the groups a reduction in the amount of business rates they paid to the authority to enable them to claim further rate reductions from central Government.

The scheme will continue for at least another year, giving halls, youth groups, relief and rescue organisations, senior citizens' groups and other community organisations a 20 per cent reduction in business rates paid to the district council.

The saving will enable them to claim a further 80 per cent statutory business rate relief from central Government.

The council's finance lead member Cllr Kate Kravis said: "Organisations across the whole district benefit from the discretionary rate relief scheme - the list of groups it affects is huge.

"We had written to all the organisations and warned them we may have to cut it but I think it is just too essential and we don't want to cut it."

Cabinet member Cllr Steven Pugsley added: "This sort of contribution percolates through every level of the district and levels in a considerably greater contribution from the national purse.

"It is something that is extremely important for this authority to continue doing if it can afford to do so."