“Unintended consequences” of supporting people element of budget settlement recognised by COSLA

There was no way officers or elected representatives from Argyll and Bute Council could have anticipated or altered the greater-than-expected cut in Supporting People funding from the Scottish Government.

That’s the unequivocal message given to Argyll and Bute Council leader Dick Walsh, in a letter from COSLA chief executive Rory Mair. (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities)

Mr Mair said “Leaders agreed that the only change to the distribution of the Supporting People resources should be that the indicators used for distribution were updated to their current levels. The decision was reported to Scottish Government officials who carry out the distribution process. Unfortunately, through “a misinterpretation, misunderstanding or difference of view” a rather more complicated calculation was carried out”.

Mr Mair confirmed that the way the formula had been applied led to “much greater losses of resources for Argyll and Bute than you, your chief executive, your chief finance officer or COSLA officers could have predicted.”

Mr Mair’s letter concludes:

“It is clear to me that no-one in Argyll and Bute Council, either at officer or member level, could have or should have predicted the situation that has arisen.”

Councillor Walsh referred to Mr Mair’s letter in his response to a question raised at today’s council meeting.

Councillor Walsh said:

“The letter from COSLA confirms the stance we have taken from the outset – that the ‘supporting people’ allocation was a misinterpretation. Anyone who takes the time to read Mr Mair’s full letter, and the documents he sends with it, will see that no-one present at the COSLA meetings expected the supporting people allocations to radically change. The COSLA agreement should have ensured that updating the formula would lead to very little change and no volatility for any individual council’s supporting people allocation.

“Far from agreeing to accept this large cut, the chief executive and I are continuing the discussions we started with COSLA when the budget settlement was first announced, to see how the situation can be redressed.”

Argyll and Bute Council faces a 4.94% reduction in its funding from the Scottish Government, which is double the national average, leaving it with an actual budget reduction of between £15 million and £16 million for 2011/12.