A COMMUNITY centre in the Western Isles has penned an open letter to the Scottish Government over concerns that the provision of legal advice at their local Citizens Advice Scotland may be subject to cuts.
An Taigh Cèilidh – a community centre and café in Stornoway where staff and customers are all encouraged to speak in Gaelic – said they were alarmed at reports the Western Isles Citizens’ Advice Service (WICAS) is facing cuts to its funding, which would impact its ability to provide legal advice to islanders.
“The Board of Directors, team members, and regular service users of An Taigh Cèilidh (ATC) are alarmed at this news,” said the letter from founding director Dr Teàrlach Wilson.
“The wellbeing and vitality of our community is paramount to us as a community project. Our language and culture cannot survive without a community to use them.
“ATC has had direct experience with the legal advice services at WICAS. Since we are a small not-for-profit community project, we do not have the means to approach a solicitor regarding some issues.
“On every occasion, the legal advisor at WICAS went above and beyond just giving advice: they found solutions and acted on our behalf.
“In one particular situation, WICAS’s legal advisor found a solution when nobody else could, incuding Police Scotland, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CNES) departments, or our elected representatives in CNES and the Scottish Parliament.
“We cannot envisage where we would be without this support.”
They added that the promise of alternative services on the mainland were unsatisfactory and suggested the Scottish Government had failed to undertake an impact assessment before planning the cuts.
The letter continued:
“ScotGov has claimed that there will be alternative services available on the mainland, but this is not satisfactory to us, and it will be significantly detrimental to the community because:
“(1) there is already a deficit of services for islanders, and this continues to disadvantage islanders
“(2) there are social and legal issues that are unique to our island (such as crofting, infrastructure, and the ecosystem), and it will be difficult to find the relevent expertise on the mainland.
“The most outrageous issue connected to these cuts is ScotGov’s apparent failure to complete an impact assessment on island communities as per the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 and ScotGov’s own National Islands Plan.
“ATC Directors, team members and service users would therefore support any action to challenge the legality of these cuts.”
The letter, which has been sent to the Scottish Government as well as SNP MSP Alasdair Allan and Labour MP Torcuil Crichton, concluded by stating that such cuts threatened the viability of life in the Western Isles.
“Without a well-supported and vibrant community on these islands, it will not just be Gaelic language and culture that face extinction, but the entire viability of the Western Isles as a place for humans to live.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “Funding for some advice services ended on 31 March 2024 in line with grant funding agreements.
“Demand for some of these services has changed and we want to ensure that funding is targeted where it is most needed.
“We are providing up to £2 million this year to support the Early Resolution Advice Programme, which supports 16 projects in the third sector, to provide assistance and representation for people at risk of, or facing court action related to debt and housing matters.
“Advice services also play a critical role in helping people to navigate the cost crisis and to access the support and information they need. That is why we are investing over £12 million this year in services that provide advice on debt and welfare issues.
“We will continue to work with the legal profession and other stakeholders, including those in the third sector to identify measures to improve and reform Scotland’s legal aid system.”
