Charities reveal concern for neediest people in society

Charities warned last night that the neediest people in society would be hit hardest by the cuts – and urged the Scottish Government and local authorities not to make the problems worse.

Kenneth Simpson, chief executive of Aberdeen-based VSA, fears councils – which make up 80% of the social-care charity’s income – will reduce funding to charities as a “knee-jerk reaction” to cuts in their settlements from central government.

“The hope is that local authorities will come to us and explore ways we can work together to save money, rather than just seeing charities as an easy target,” he said.

“It may be we can deliver services in different ways – ways that are more in line with what people want so, for example, instead of funding residential places we might be able to help people stay in their own homes.

“Charities in this country employ 140,000 people and provide £1.5billion of high-quality, low-cost, value-for-money services. It’s as big a sector as tourism. If we damage it we could be doing irreparable damage.”

Citizens Advice Scotland said the cuts would lead to more people seeking its help.

Spokesman Matt Lancashire said: “Our fear is that the people who will suffer the most from the £7billion cut from the Department of Work and Pensions budget are those who are already suffering – the poor, the sick, the vulnerable.”

Age Scotland chief executive David Manion called on the Scottish Government to come up with a budget which would safeguard the wellbeing of older people and support key policies such as free personal and nursing care and the concessionary travel scheme.

John Dickie, head of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, described the spending review as “short-sighted and profoundly unfair” and said it would “almost certainly increase, rather than reduce, child poverty”.

“You can’t rip £18billion out of the welfare budget – cutting support to families in and out of work – without hurting our poorest children,” he added.

John Downie, of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, said the challenge for the Scottish Government was to avoid “panic cuts”.

He added: “Any cuts would damage the ability of our sector to continue to work at the front line in protecting the most vulnerable people in our society.”