In Care Survivors Service Scotland is facing closure due ongoing conflict with the Scottish Government

In Care Survivor Service Scotland (ICSSS), run by the charity Open Secret, is dedicated to counselling those who were subjected to neglect, physical, emotional and sexual abuse while in a care setting.

It was established in November 2008 and is said to have helped around 200 people from the Wee County in that time.

Recently, the government announced plans for the Survivors Support Fund which will see a shift in the way counselling is offered to service users, with the intention that Open Secret continue to provide care through ICSSS.

However, in order for the service to make the transition to the new government model, civil servants have demanded counsellors share with them anonymous data on survivors.

This sparked a furious response from the service, with Open Secret chief executive claiming they were being "held to ransom" by the government.

She did, however, assure ICSSS clients that the service would rather cease to exist than compromise clients' identification.

Ms Rennie told the Advertiser: "We've told them every which way – we're not doing it. Clients would be devastated if we were to hand over their personal details.

"One of the main reasons they came to us in the first place is that we don't ask for that, and that we provide support regardless.

"We've always said our ethics are more important that anything and we can't help people if they don't trust us.

"This presents a risk to survivors; they are terrified about this.

"We're being held to ransom," she added. "The only way clients will be able to contact the new service is by handing over personal details.

"Why are they not getting this? Not only would handing over the details be a serious breach of trust on our part, but survivors have told us they won't engage with a service if they have to give their personal details.

"We work with the vast majority of survivors in Scotland because they trust us. And they are terrified about this.

"But we're at this impasse right now with the Scottish Government. They are insisting we won't get funding if we don't hand over more information and we've made it clear that we're not doing that.

"There's really not much more we can do – I think they've already made up their minds."

The Scottish Government has accused the charity of failing to engage with the transition over to the new support fund.

Officials insist they have not breached any confidentiality rules, and have urged the charity to satisfy the requirements or risk their funding.

A spokesperson said: “We have been working hard with partners in health care and groups representing survivors to deliver the expanded support system that we promised.

"To ensure consistency of care we asked groups already working with us to share anonymous data as a condition of their grant. We have never asked for any information that would compromise data protection and the level of information was clearly set out at the start of the process.

“When the new service officially begins in September, Open Secret will have the opportunity to become a provider of services through this integrated fund, and if clients choose then Open Secret can provide counselling services as part of their offer.

"It will be for Open Secret to decide if they wish to provide their services via the new support fund, to date they have refused to engage in the mechanisms to enable that.

“We will continue to meet regularly with survivors and their representative to ensure the best possible service that meets their needs better than ever before.”