20 February 2004
Scottish councils have criticised the 'prescriptive' manner in which funds intended to crack down on antisocial behaviour have been divided up.
A spokesman for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities said that while there was support for the Executive's focus on antisocial behaviour, councils should be given a bigger say in funding distribution.
He said: 'Local authorities are best placed to identify those services best suited to addressing local needs, and therefore will seek to work with the Executive to ensure that future resources for ASB are not allocated in a prescriptive fashion from the centre, thus allowing maximum flexibility for councils.'
Under spending plans set out by Communities Minister Margaret Curran, 400 community wardens are to be recruited from the £30m ASB budget. The fund will also cover expanded mediation and victim support schemes. She said this would ensure that each of Scotland's 32 councils would have a community warden as part of its ASB strategy.
PFfeb2004
