Mental Health Aberdeen: 'Inappropriate expenditure' claims probed
MHA provided various services including counselling, services in schools and community projects. The charity had said funding had been reduced or withdrawn and rising operational costs including a "significant increase" in National Insurance contributions led to the closure.The charity said in July: "Despite the team's tireless efforts to meet rising demand, our current income can no longer sustain the level of service we aim to provide. "Like many third sector organisations across the country, we are facing the stark reality of being asked to do more with less - a position that is no longer viable."MHA also called on "funders, partners, decision-makers, and government policy makers" to recognise the need for more investment in mental health services. It added: "It is vital that charities, like ours, are given the tools and resources to continue delivering essential services to those who need them most, before it's too late."The OSCR said in a statement: "We have received a number of concerns from the public about the closure of Mental Health Aberdeen, which included allegations of inappropriate expenditure by the organisation."These concerns are currently being assessed in line with our standard policies and procedures."
'Shock and trauma'
Alan Paterson, who worked as a counsellor at MHA for five years, told BBC Scotland News how staff were informed of the closure. He said they were sent an email by management in which they were told there would be an emergency meeting the following day."At the meeting, staff were told of redundancies, and that the liquidator was being called in," he said."It was brutal. People were in tears at the meeting, people were holding each other with the sense of loss."For all of us, it was just utter shock and trauma."Mr Paterson said he was still waiting for his last month of pay.He said the sense of loss was compounded by the fact MHA was providing a crucial service."We are talking about loss of clients undergoing their counselling journey," he said. "It's heart-breaking."Last year a number of charities had warned they had "nowhere to cut", and their operations were in jeopardy due to the increase in employers' National Insurance.The UK government said at the time that it supported charities through a "world-leading tax regime which provided £6bn in relief for the sector in the last year alone".It added that an increased employment allowance would protect charities, meaning more than half of them with NI liabilities would "either gain or see no change".
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