§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the funding of local councils of social service in rural Scotland, showing the amount paid to each local council of social service from public funds and the overall total paid to individual councils and to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations in each of the last five years and for the coming year; and if it is his policy that these councils should be financed from(a) central or (b) local government.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythMy right hon. and learned Friend continues to attach importance to the claims of local councils of social service operating in rural areas in the allocation of grant assistance, under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, to voluntary bodies in the social work field. The amounts of grant paid to individual councils for each year of the five-year period ending 31 March 1988 are in table A.
Total grant to local councils will be increased in 1988–89 to £504,000. That sum will be distributed to
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Central Government grants paid to local councils of social service Table A Council 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 Isle of Arran Council of Social Service 8,011 8,907 8,653 9,275 12,812 Voluntary Action in Badenoch and Strathspey — — — 13,680 17,230 Barra and Vatersay Council of Social Service 6,962 9,642 10,353 16,734 14,611 Berwickshire Association for Voluntary Service 8,402 8,334 8,486 9,079 8,824 Bute Community Links — — — — 11,247 Association for Community Action (Clackmannan District) 9,953 10,943 11,780 14,372 — East Lothian Council for Voluntary Service 7,314 7,401 7,524 7,477 7,252 East Sutherland Council of Social Service 5,881 8,567 7,882 8,827 11,040 Ettrick and Lauderdale Association of Voluntary Service 7,188 6,333 7,371 8,506 7,876 Federation of Borders Councils of Social Service 884 1,179 1,240 1,366 1,827 Federation of Voluntary Community Development Organisations in the Highlands and Islands 1,810 1,990 1,782 1,623 2,264 Gordon Rural Action and Information Network 8,272 9,634 10,867 11,749 11,727 Harris Council of Social Service 6,120 7,884 7,510 9,816 10,706 Inverness Voluntary Organisations Group 13,184 13,700 13,690 12,318 6,683 Islay Council of Social Service 10,710 10,924 14,940 14,085 16,190 Association of Local Voluntary Organisations (Lanark) 8,905 7,907 8,485 11,566 9,966 Levenmouth Council of Social Service 1,883 2,581 16,232 114,051 113,955 Lewis Council of Social Service 17,038 16,892 18,242 22,703 19,548 Lochaber Voluntary Organisations Group — — 2,100 12,794 14,596 Midlothian Council of Social Service 2,977 3,373 4,309 4,193 3,657 Musselburgh and District Council of Social Service 455 388 — — — The Voluntary Association of Nairn Groups — — 3,000 10,319 8,700 Nithsdale Council of Voluntary Service — — 4,269 6,971 9,379 North and West Sutherland Council of Social Service 5,810 6,636 6,898 10,007 9,617 Voluntary Services Orkney 12,948 11,435 11,911 17,337 18,411 Perth and Kinross Association of Voluntary Service 9,473 10,554 10,972 10,787 10,959 Ross and Cromarty Council of Voluntary Service 13,122 12,418 13,130 14,871 14,808 Roxburgh Association of Voluntary Service 6,885 8,110 7,988 8,600 10,751 Shetland Council of Social Service 18,524 16,157 16,704 18,680 19,398 Skye and Lochalsh Council of Social Service 13,117 12,078 12,181 16,425 14,853 Speyside and District Council of Social Service 11,074 11,229 12,114 11,969 12,608 Stewartry Council of Voluntary Service 5,139 5,697 7,061 7,541 7,849 Council of Social Service (Stirling District) 15,290 16,683 17,255 18,438 17,339 Tweeddale Association of Voluntary Organisations 5,247 5,669 6,866 6,538 9,325 Uist Council of Social Service 11,834 11,845 16,055 14,711 15,927 West Lothian Council of Social Service 6,354 9,197 10,616 12,421 12,159 Total 260,766 274,287 308,466 389,829 393,464 1 Payments recorded include urban aid grant. existing councils and three or four new councils which are expected to enter the grant arrangements for the first time. Allocations to individual councils will be indicated shortly.
Grant is paid in each case as a percentage of proposed total expenditure and councils are required to find the balance of their income from other sources. They are riot required to obtain assistance from local authorities though this is in practice the source from which most additional funding is obtained.
Grants paid to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations during each year of the same five-year period are set out in table B.
The council has been informed that, following the reassessment of priorities which led to the proposed increase in the level of support for local councils, grant for 1988–89, under section 10(1) of the 1968 Act, in respect of headquarters expenditure will be reduced to £250,000. In addition grant, amounting to £28,100, under section 9 of that Act, will be made towards the council's training activities. The council is free to seek additional income from other sources.
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Table B Central Government grants paid to Scottish council for voluntary organisations 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–881 Core grant under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 312,369 320,205 363,072 353,183 346,986 Payroll giving grant under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 — — — 33,265 30,201 Training grant under section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 18,211 15,810 20,549 256,645 29,168 Community Education grant under the Further Education (Scotland) Regulations 1959–79 1,660 1,709 1,000 — — Tenants Participatory Advisory Service grant under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 42,874 42,616 37,302 21,835 — TOTAL 375,114 380,340 421,923 433,928 406,355 1 Estimated to be paid.