A COUNCIL is to review controversial cuts to mental health services after hearing evidence from a threatened charity.

At a specially convened Glasgow City Council scrutiny committee, members voted to ask the council's executive committee to review its decision to slash the funding of Glasgow Association for Mental Health by 40 per cent. The measure, passed in December, was opposed by a campaign group led by the union Unison and GAMH service users and staff.

The £800,000 reduction in funding for GAMH is part of a reconfiguration of mental health services in the city which social care director David Williams says will help focus on recovery and ensure people they do not continue to need social work support for lengthy periods.

However it is forcing the charity to make up to 30 people redundant and halve the amount of support on offer to those affected by mental health problems.

Speaking at the meeting of the Operational Delivery and Scrutiny Committee, GAMH chief executive Jenny Graydon said changing the charity's role and forcing it to make people redundant would have an inevitable impact on its services, and might affect the willingness of NHS services to refer people to GAMH.

A separate item, calling for the committee to send a planned shake up of sheltered housing back for reconsideration, was defeated.

Committee chair, SNP councillor David McDonald said: "The two items considered today are in their own way of vital importance to some of our city's most vulnerable citizens. I am disappointed that we saw one of the papers pushed through by Labour, in the face of powerful testimony from Housing Associations, wardens and residents.

"However, I am content that we have managed to force the Labour administration to rethink their clouded thinking over budget allocations to Glasgow Association for Mental Health (GAMH).

"The executive committee will now have the opportunity to rethink the proposals, based on the needs of service users and the ability of the organisation to work with constraints on budgets."

The decision will now be reviewed at a meeting of the Executive Committee next week.

Executive member for social care Malcolm Cunning said opposition councillors were being inconsistent.

"Yesterday the SNP group leader said it would be a disaster to reduce any funding to GAMH and today they voted to impose an arbitrary 30 per cent cut," he said. "This decision is illogical, incompetent and undeliverable."