2. To ask the Scottish Government what further support local authorities can provide to communities and community organisations to continue to protect the most vulnerable and older people during the Covid-19 pandemic. (S5O-04534)

We have already provided a considerable amount of support to local authorities, including £57.6 million to provide co-ordinated support with food and essentials for people at risk. We have also doubled the Scottish welfare fund.

Our programme for government commits to more investment in people and communities, including £275 million over five years to support community-led regeneration and town centre revitalisation, as well as a £10 million tenant hardship loan fund. We have also announced a further increase of £3 million in discretionary housing payments support, which brings total investment to £80.1 million in 2020-21.

We have also announced plans to refocus part of the communities fund into a £25 million community and third sector recovery programme, which will provide direct support to the third sector to continue to assist people and communities.

In my Constituency of Strathkelvin and Bearsden, community organisations have been a lifeline for many vulnerable people, with East Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action providing expert co-ordination and support for local groups. Will local authorities be given guidance on how to prioritise the needs of vulnerable people both now and after the scourge of Covid-19 is no longer with us?

I thank Rona Mackay for bringing to our attention the phenomenal work that is clearly happening in her Constituency through local groups. That has been replicated across Scotland, and people have done enormously inspiring work to keep people looked after, safe and well.

Local authorities have a deep understanding of their communities, and community needs will be different across all areas of Scotland. Local authorities will prioritise and support their communities based on local need, and will use a range of tools and data to support their analysis of it.

Rona Mackay is absolutely right to point out the need to learn from what has happened and to use those lessons in looking forward and preparing for the future, especially with the concurrent risks of winter and Brexit that are on the horizon. I know from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that that work is being considered, and that is why COSLA is an active participant in our social renewal advisory board, which seeks to work out how we not only recover from this situation, but seek to rebuild and refresh what we do. That will include making sure that we enable our communities to continue to flourish in the ways in which they have flourished.

Today, more than 100 charities in Glasgow got a temporary reprieve from huge proposed cuts to their funding through the Glasgow communities fund, but it is not yet clear what the council will do to fill the financial gap. Organisations—[

Inaudible

.]—have contacted me, and they are scared that they will have to close. Does the Cabinet secretary agree that those charities should never have been under that threat in the first place, and that, in the current circumstances, disproportionate underfunding of local authorities has to stop?

I had trouble hearing some of what Annie Wells said—her line was pretty poor—but I think that I got the gist of her question.

The Scottish Government continues to treat local government fairly. In my response to Gail Ross, I outlined a significant range of levers that we have used to support local authorities through this uniquely difficult time.

I understand entirely why there are so many concerns about some of the on-going discussions in Glasgow. I understand that a paper has gone to Glasgow City Council, which will finalise and confirm its decisions today. There has been movement, with Jennifer Layden’s announcement of a transition fund to help support some of those local groups from the local authority pot. Continuing dialogue is also important to make sure that the local authority supports community groups as best it can.

I point out to Annie Wells that a lot of those organisations are helping people who are deeply vulnerable and have been impacted by some of the welfare cuts that her party has brought about. She should also be seeking to make sure that the United Kingdom Government continues to do what it can to alleviate poverty across the country—lifting the benefit cap, for example, would go some way towards supporting people.

We need to pull together, and we need to make sure that we can support our communities. I am confident that the continued dialogue that is happening in Glasgow will enable community groups to feel supported. However, we have to make sure that we work collectively to recognise the valuable work that the third sector does across the country.