An autism and neurodiversity support charity has withdrawn from a council fund worth £100,000 due to “irreconcilable differences”.

Autism and Neurodiversity North Scotland said the decision was made to pull out of Aberdeenshire Council’s Whole Family Wellbeing Fund and its associated project due to the council’s recent response to the charity’s concerns and the broader challenges encountered during the collaboration.

The charity supports and promotes the wellbeing of children and adults with an autistic spectrum condition and their families in the Grampian area.

The Whole Family Wellbeing Fund is a four-year £500m investment set up by the Scottish government in 2022, which is being administered by local authorities. 

The fund was set up as a holistic support system to create a shift towards prevention and early intervention ensuring less children enter the care system.

Autism and Neurodiversity North Scotland said the decision to withdraw from the fund was not taken lightly because it would affect the families and communities the charity is “deeply committed” to serving.   

“While we value the principles of partnership and inclusion that such Scottish government funding provided to Aberdeenshire Council aims to achieve, irreconcilable differences have arisen between A-ND and Aberdeenshire Council regarding the administration and oversight of this fund,” the charity said.

“Despite our best efforts to engage constructively, we believe the current circumstances pose an unacceptable level of financial risk to our organisation, limiting our ability to sustain this project without compromising our broader mission and services.”

The charity said it was committed to honouring all existing commitments through to 31 December to ensure families have sufficient time to transition to alternative support services if available, or to contact Aberdeenshire Council to discuss next steps.   

A spokesperson for Aberdeenshire Council said the charity would not incur a financial penalty for pulling out of the contract.

“We can confirm that Autism & Neurodiversity North Scotland has notified us that it is withdrawing from a project it started to run in Fraserburgh and Peterhead,” the council spokesperson said.

"Unfortunately, despite initially receiving monthly funding earlier this year, the charity was unable to deliver the project as stated in its application and, therefore, unable to fulfil the terms and conditions of the original offer made under the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.”

The spokesperson said A-ND was unable to reach an agreement with the council despite its attempts to discuss a reduced funding package which would have enabled the charity to deliver some of the project.

“We recognise the decision by A-ND will be a disappointment not only to those in the community, but to us within Aberdeenshire Council as this is a fantastic scheme,” the spokesperson said.

"We continue to work closely with statutory and non-statutory partners as well as directly with families in Fraserburgh and Peterhead to explore ways to support families who have a child or young person with additional support needs."