Organisations and volunteers in Atherstone and district are facing a "significantly different" picture of financial support in the next 12 months.

Groups and dozens of individuals have been told to expect changes in the future to requests for assistance through North Warwickshire Borough Council's annual grants scheme.

In the past monies have come to North Warwickshire Citizens Advice, Live & Local, North Warwickshire Allotments Federation and Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action via this method.

But a report to the local authority's Community and Environment Board warns that a countywide Third Sector Infrastructure Support Services Agreement awarded annually to the WCAVA is due to finish at the end of June.

A three-month extension has been applied for while Warwickshire County Council looks to "refine the associated service specification".

The report says the subsequent nature of that service requirement has yet to be determined, adding: "Nevertheless, Warwickshire County Council has made the borough council aware that the service specification may be significantly different to that which is the subject of the current agreement."

Last year, the North Warwickshire office experienced significant staffing changes, which included the retirement of the former localities manager.

These changes, and the associated reduction in staff capacity, impacted on the number of organisations supported by WCAVA.

Between April and December 2019, 113 organisations were supported, through 155 recorded interventions. This represents a decrease in the outputs achieved for the same period in 2018.

WCAVA supported successful funding bids by local groups and organisations to local and national grant schemes that had a cumulative value of more than £190,000. Additionally, it held 13 events or training sessions for local organisations, through which it supported 21 organisations and 359 individual volunteers.

The uncertain future is not helped by a national picture which has forcecast 97 per cent of local authorities in England plan to increase council tax, fees and charges in the next financial year after a decade of austerity under successive Tory administrations.

Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit, said social care is "no longer on the edge, it's fallen off the cliff" as councils look at other sources of income aside from council tax and business rates as a "high priority or essential".