A town council is carrying out a review of how it allocates its annual grant funding to organisations such as the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
March Town Councillors discussed the issue of policy for its specific grant funding - money it gives annually to a large number of organisations that also include Defibrillators for March, FACT Community Transport, and the Fenland Volunteer Centre.
The organisations receive the money automatically annually and have been doing so for many years.
However, former Mayor Gary Christy, who was not at Monday night's town council meeting, has raised the issue of policy and wants to see changes to ensure the specific grants are allocated in the same way the council's one-off donations are made.
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Clerk Sarah Lemmon put forward Cllr Christy's proposal in his absence and said he wanted a review of the way the grants are handed out.
Groups looking for one-off funding have to provide a raft of documentation, including proof that the money will benefit the people of March, copies of their accounts, and other information.
However, the groups receiving specific grants do not have to jump through the same hoops.
Cllr Christy wants to see that changed, so organisations benefiting from any of the council's grant money have to go through the same process.
Ms Lemmon explained the proposed changes would bring equity.
Cllr Martin Field welcomed the proposals, but Cllr Jan French felt many of the specific grant beneficiaries would not be able to provide all the necessary paperwork.
A suggestion questioned by Cllr Field, who pointed out that earlier in the year, the March Summer Festival Committee had been denied funding for failing to provide its accounts and demonstrate how the hoped-for grant money would be spent.
However, Cllr French argued that the summer festival was refused funding because the committee's application had come in after the council's annual budget had already been drawn up.
After a brief discussion on the subject, it was agreed to postpone making a decision until the August meeting, before which a list of the current specific grant beneficiaries would be circulated.
Ms Lemmon said the council needed to make a decision at the next meeting to enable the new policy to be sent out to recipients so they had it ahead of the budget-setting process for the next financial year.
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