LEADING councillors were today grilled by charity sector workers at Waltham Forest Voluntary Action's AGM in a Question Time-style debate.

Cllrs Matt Davis, Jenny Gray and John Macklin all faced tough questioning on bureaucracy surrounding charities, funding and unemployment.

The debate was chaired by Branches CEO Peter Baldwin and the panel also included Karen Hart, subregional manager of the North London Community and Voluntary Sector Partnership.

Ms Hart said: “Now more than ever, in the recession, we need to lobby quite hard to nail down what we need in our communities.

“Things are really, really tight in terms of being able to run voluntary organisations these days.”

All three parties were represented and were given the chance to answer written questions as well as questions from the floor.

Representatives from charities from all over Waltham Forest attended the meeting at the YMCA in Forest Road, Walthamstow.