Glasgow community mental health funding of £165,764 has been returned to the Scottish Government from the council after it went unspent this year.
A council meeting heard the cash has been handed back “due to delayed start dates for recruitment.”
The previous financial year - between April 2021 to April 2022 - the amount sent back from the same funding pot was higher at £174,514 as the programme was “undersubscribed.”
READ MORE: Glasgow must return £44 million Covid funding to Scottish Government
The local democracy reporting service has previously covered how £44 million Covid funding is due to be sent back to the Scottish Government after it was received by its health and social care partnership.
The unused cash was on the agenda at a council meeting last week after Labour councillor Cecilia O’Lone asked how much funding across the council, including the Integration Joint Board, is being returned to Holyrood.
City treasurer councillor Ricky Bell, SNP, said: “ I can confirm that for 2022 to 2023 £165,764 was returned to Scottish Government for Community Mental Health due to delayed start dates for recruitment (2021 to 2022 returned £174,514 from the same funding pot due to the programme being undersubscribed).
He added: “I am also aware that there are ongoing discussions between the Integration Joint Board and Scottish Government over the use of unspent covid recovery funds. It is my understanding that no final decision has been made yet and that if further information is required then contact should be made directly with the Integration Joint Board.”
Councillor O’Lone asked for clarification on whether the money would come back to the city again based on information discussed at a recent health and social care meeting.
Councillor Bell said there is a possibility it could be.
The politician said he and the council director of finance “take a view that no money should ever go back to the Scottish Government and we do absolutely everything within our power to keep as much of that money in the city as possible.”
Earlier in the discussion, councillor Bell described funding as a “complex issue” with cash being provided for general and specific issues.
Explaining more, he said: “For example, the Scottish Government provided significant levels of funding to support grants to business over the last two years. There have been several reconciliations of these various grants with the balance either being returned to Scottish Government or Scottish Government making a payment to settle the balance.
"We also have several policy commitments which SG fund but are unaware of the total cost and demand. This normally involves them making a payment to account and then carrying out a reconciliation to pay the balance based on actual cost. Again, this can be a payment from us or a receipt to us.”
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