Recommendation 24

The Committee recognises the essential contribution that such services make, not just through advice and counselling, but also in collating the data needed to inform policy decisions. The Committee is clear that third sector organisations cannot be expected to provide these essential services without stable, long-term and sufficient funding, particularly given the need to build trust with service users. We invite the Scottish Government to respond to the concerns raised by stakeholders in this context and strongly recommend that further investment is made available to support the continued provision of such services on a sustainable basis going forward.