Funding cuts pits volunteer services against each other

SUTHERLAND’s two councils of voluntary service are in turmoil amid a row over a significant funding cut that has left the future of both organisations hanging in the balance.

Managers of Voluntary Groups East Sutherland (VGES) and CVS North have been shocked to learn that funding will now be available for only one organisation in Sutherland and not two.

The amount of money given to both bodies in total is being cut by £36,000 – representing a 37 per cent reduction.

Two part-time jobs are in jeopardy as a result.

The slash in grant aid comes despite the fact the funding distribution body, the Highland Third Sector Interface (HTSI), is not facing any reduction in the money available to it from the Scottish Government.

HTSI has now been accused of acting without consultation and of hitting Sutherland hardest – taking money away from the county to use centrally.

It is being urged to reconsider its decision.

East Sutherland and Edderton ward councillor Jim McGillivray said: "Yet more centralisation, now in the voluntary sector, and Sutherland suffers most again."

Golspie based VGES and CVS North – operated by home workers at Tongue and Durness – provide vital support to charities and other groups, including help with funding applications.

Between them they have served their communities for more than 50 years and have a membership of around 230 community groups.

Until 2011, VGES and CVS North received their core Scottish Government funding from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). The system then changed and 32 Third Sector Interfaces (TSI) were formed to distribute funding, Each TSI was aligned with a local authority area across Scotland.

Now the Highland TSI is changing the way it operates, realigning its funding distribution structure from eight to seven areas, meaning Sutherland is now considered to be eligible for one volunteer service and not two.

VGES and CVS were told last month of the new system, which could be introduced as early as October, despite the fact HTSI’s funding from the Scottish Government is not due for review until September 2019.

CVS North chairwoman Kirsteen Mackay said: "This is another example of centralisation by people who have no clue as to the needs of volunteers and community groups in the rural Highlands.

"The process being enforced is extremely disturbing as it is without consultation and the Scottish Government should question what is being carried out in its name."

VGES chairman Ian Ross said: "The Scottish Government funding to HTSI remains unchanged and this is an example of funding being removed from a more remote part of the Highlands and retained for use by an Inner Moray Firth-based body.

"HTSI must step back from this proposal.

"Any proposals for funding and structural changes should include a comprehensive consultation exercise and reflect the government’s commitment to local engagement and community empowerment."

HTSI’s chief officer Mhairi Wylie stressed that although the decision had been made to give Sutherland just one funding allocation, that did not necessarily mean the two groups could not continue to operate – although sharing the one allocation.

She said: "There is one funding agreement and how that is to be delivered is still to be decided.

"We need to let these changes settle and have conversations with the organisations.

"They have a long history and this is not a reflection on any performance – it’s a reflection on the national direction of travel. It is a significant change for Sutherland, which in an ideal world, we would not be forced into."