Evidence library

In November 2007 the Scottish Government published its Scottish Budget Spending Review and accompanying Concordat with local government. This survey set out to assess the initial impact of these developments on voluntary sector social care providers. KEY FINDINGS ? 96% of providers responding to this survey were in receipt of funding from a ring-fenced stream in 2007-08. Respondents indicated that since the removal of the ring-fence in 2008/09, relevant services have experienced the following: ? 74% of respondents said that they had experienced no change to funding in 2008/09, ie. standstill ? 39% of respondents said that funding has been reduced ? 90% of respondents indicated that they had not been invited to contribute or input to the SOA in any local authority areas, but also ? 75% of respondents did not make any proactive attempts to influence the content of SOAs. ? 45% of respondents state that they already have a route into community planning partnerships locally These findings indicate that most of the key elements of the Concordat have had a fairly limited impact on day to day reality for providers. Nevertheless, the majority of providers responding to this survey are experiencing standstill budgets or cuts and although these may be due to general financial constraints there is a considerable level of disquiet about the future. METHODOLOGY All CCPS members were invited to respond to the survey in October 2008: the response rate was 49% (32 responses from 65 members).