South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has written to Local Government Minister Jim Fitzpatrick to urge him to reconsider proposals from the Scottish Government to cut the grant funding to the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT).

The Trust has been a strong supporter of coalfield communities since 1999 and has carried out invaluable work. The Trust in Scotland operates in parts of the four former Scottish coalfields areas, of Ayrshire/Upper Nithsdale, Fife & Central, Lanarkshire, and the Lothians.

However, Colin Smyth now believes that the settlement for 2023/24 has seen the total funding from the Scottish Government to the Trust cut by a further £100,000 to £650,000 – a reduction of more than ten per cent in a single year on top of a decade of real terms reductions.

The local MSP said: “The Coalfields Regeneration Trust has been a huge supporter of coalfield communities for more than 20 years and this news is really concerning.

“There has been a funding freeze since 2011 which is shocking but now I understand that the settlement for 2023/24 has seen the total funding from the Scottish Government to the Trust cut by a further £100,000 to £650,000 – a reduction of more than ten per cent in a single year on top of a decade of real terms reductions.

“With year-on-year cuts to councils by the Scottish Government, it is simply not practical for many of these communities to expect local authorities to make up this shortfall as the Scottish Government seem to be implying.

“As a result, there is no doubt important community projects in former mining communities which are crying out for regeneration are likely to suffer.

“I would urge the Scottish Government to urgently reconsider these proposed cuts and the decision that the Trust will no longer be able to offer grants as a condition of Scottish Government funding.”