Devastating loss of funding is countered by new fighting force

A powerful cross party group is gearing up to do battle with North Lanarkshire Council in regard to a funding crisis which has seen the authority's three Women's Aid shelters lose out on lifeline funding because they do not work with offenders.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Apr 2021, 11:58 BST
The Muirfield CentreThe Muirfield Centre
The Muirfield Centre

Last month, the authority was accused of a "callous step" after cancelling its £350,00 annual payment to the shelters after favouring Sacro, an organisation which works with domestic abusers.

All three refugees had tendered to the contract and Scottish Women's Aid chief executive Marsha Scott said that legal action against the council was being considered and that the charity had faced "hostility" during the tendering process.

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Now it has emerged that a total of four Members of Parliament and 10 members of the Scottish Parliament have formally requested a meeting with North Lanarkshire Council leader Jim Logue and chief executive in a quest to get funding back on track, for the sake of vulnerable women and children in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth.

Among them is MP Stuart McDonald who said: “Women’s Aid have provided an absolutely vital service to women and children in Cumbernauld & Kilsyth facing domestic abuse for many years. It really is dreadful to think North Lanarkshire council could become the only local authority in Scotland where those services aren’t funded."

For more See Page 6

Related topics:Women's AidNorth Lanarkshire Council

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