Bield said its sheltered housing scheme had to be let out as flats

A survey found almost a quarter of associations had to reduce services due to cuts in Supporting People funding.

Bield Housing Association in Edinburgh said the cuts meant its recently built state-of-the-art sheltered housing had to be let as unsupported flats.

The executive said the fund was five times higher than in 2001.

The survey, conducted by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA), revealed that a further 50% of its members had Supporting People budgets reduced, but had so far managed to avoid cutting services.

The executive cannot simply stand back and say it's up to local authorities Jacqui Watt SFHA chief executive

However, they said that situation would not be able to continue in the long-term.

Housing providers said they expected further cuts as councils faced pressure to make savings over the next few years.

The federation expressed its concerns in a letter to Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm.

SFHA chief executive Jacqui Watt said: "All the evidence suggest that cuts to service provision are not being avoided.

"The executive cannot simply stand back and say it's up to local authorities to continue to fund much-needed services on a drastically reduced budget.

"We're especially concerned that funding for new, lower level preventative services, which we know to be very effective, such as those for young homeless people, is no longer available in most areas."

Complete picture

A Scottish Executive spokesperson said: "We are monitoring the impact of the budget changes, although it is important to remember that the Supporting People budget is five times higher than it was in 2001.

"Over time, the redistribution process will ensure people receive similar levels of service wherever they live.

"Our first monitoring returns from local authorities suggested that useful services were by and large being maintained.

"We will take note of the SFHA survey and await the next set of returns this summer from local authorities to get a complete picture."