A voluntary organisation which promotes inclusion of disabled people in all aspects of society has criticised Fife Council for cutting its cash.
Disabilities Fife, which is based in Kirkcaldy, faces crisis after the local authority removed funding for 2015 as part of wider changes.
Chairman Charles Litster accused council staff of discouraging the group from applying for grants by being unhelpful when asked for simple pieces of information such as contact details for other funding providers.
“I must say there should be no need for a voluntary organisation like ourselves to go to these lengths to obtain simple information from council staff,” he said.
“It is obvious that without funding we cannot afford to pay for a caseworker/ manager nor his or her supporting admin staff.
“As a result, the new service is a rota of a small number of volunteers from the management committee.”
Mr Litster said the group’s management committee consists of members who have physical and mental challenges, with many unable to support the service.
“It became obvious as I asked the members of the management committee to volunteer, little or no thought had been given on how Disabilities Fife would continue after the funding was reduced to zero,” he said.
“Nor was their sufficient planning and thought applied to how Disabilities Fife would obtain alternative funding.
“Just giving the organisation access to a funding database in my view is insufficient. More support was needed given the nature of our organisation.
“That is, Fife Council staff should have provided a better level of ‘hand holding’.
“This is particularly true as none of our members are funding application experts, and have little admin/ computing expertise. They need help.”
Mr Litster has called on the local authority to provide short and medium-term funding to cover a part-time caseworker and manager, a funding application expert, a part-time clerical assistant, and office rental costs at its base in New Volunteer House.
However, Sharon Douglas, funding and monitoring manager, defended the council’s stance.
“Following a cross-party review of services to support equality groups during 2013/14, it was agreed in March 2014 that the council’s financial support for several voluntary organisations would come to an end during 2014/15,” she said.
“In its place, the council agreed to support a new model for engaging with equalities groups through Fife Centre for Equalities.
“This provided an opportunity to join together service provision for all equalities groups in Fife and allows for more effective and coordinated engagement with a broader range of client groups.
“Various meetings took place between Fife Council, Disabilities Fife and other third sector representatives to provide transitional support, comprehensive business planning advice and detailed information about grants and other external funding opportunities.
“This is on top of the rent-free accommodation and transitional funding already provided to Disabilities Fife via Fife Voluntary Action.”
She added: “Fife Council is committed to providing the most cost-effective funding for the essential support services in Fife.
“In response to recent statements by Disabilities Fife, Fife Council officers have offered to meet with the organisation to discuss opportunities for other external funding streams.”