The Scottish Government will announce the funding that will be made available to Scottish councils as part of its Local Government Finance Settlement on 15 December.
Ahead of the announcement, COSLA is today (Wednesday) highlighting the impact that another cut to local authority funding will have. Today’s release focuses on the severe consequences for homelessness across the country if there was yet another cut to local government funding.
Commenting on COSLA’s release, Councillor Tom McAughtrie, Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Communities Committee commented: “These cuts will not only affect the homeless, but all of our most vulnerable people.
Every one of our Council’s top priorities address poverty in one way or another and with our funds and resources already stretched to capacity, there is nothing left to give. Our services need to ensure that they are able to respond and adapt to the needs of those experiencing poverty in all its forms.
A report on our Anti-Poverty work will come before Full Council on the same day as the Scottish Government announcement next week. Members will be asked to consider allocating £93,000, from our Anti-Poverty Strategy Fund 2016/17, to alleviate the impact on our customers and partners following the ending of the temporary Scottish Government funding, in September/October this year. This amount will be required in order to sustain current levels of service delivery to the homeless and vulnerable.
We were praised in October last year by the Scottish Government itself for our Homelessness Support, but following subsequent cuts in December of last year we have already had to fundamentally review and refocus our homelessness service to ensure it meets regulatory standards. With new cuts anticipated next week, the results could be devastating. There is only so much we can lose whilst still providing vital help to those in dire need.”
Speaking today (Wednesday) in advance of the Scottish Government laying out its spending plans for next year, COSLA’s Community Wellbeing Spokesperson Councillor Harry McGuigan said:
“Councils have made great efforts to tackle homelessness in recent years but a severe cut to Local Government next week will threaten all of this hard work. As the Scottish Government look to hollow-out council funding even more, this will result in resources being taken away from support services that stop people becoming homeless.
“Our funding is at breaking point and, despite the evidence that councils are prioritising the most vulnerable communities, there are only so many efficiency improvements that can be made before the quality of service is affected. While councils have done well to meet their statutory obligation on homelessness, the impact of cuts is beginning to be felt by the most needy in society.
“Although many of the drivers of homelessness lie outwith the remit of Scottish and Local Government – such as the introduction of Universal Credit – it is important that both spheres of government in Scotland work together to support those in need. If one sphere of Government makes a political choice to cut its funding to Councils we are certainly not working together to alleviate the problem.
“It is tragic that anyone should be made homeless in the 21st century, especially at this time of year with Christmas approaching and a cold winter starting to bite.”
City of Edinburgh Council Leader, Councillor Andrew Burns, added:
“Over recent years, Edinburgh has seen a steady reduction in people presenting as homeless. A major contributing factor has been the collaboration with our partners in the third sector. These achievements have also been despite a challenging economic climate and significant budget pressures throughout the city.”
“Of course, protecting vulnerable people will continue to be our key priority and we are committed to reducing homelessness further across Edinburgh. But these recent, very positive achievements, will all be put at serious risk if we see any further significant budget reductions from the Scottish Government.”
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