Services for young people with mental health problems will improve, despite a Dunfermline charity facing closure.

That's the view of Councillor Bryan Poole, Fife Council's education and children's services spokesperson, who denied youngsters will lose out after it was revealed Headroom had lost out on £30,000 of funding.

Dunfermline MP Douglas Chapman said the charity had been forced to move from its base at Canmore Street, as it could not afford the rent, to Douglas Street and expressed concern it could shut.

He said: "Headroom do such vital work with pupils coping with issues such as bullying, neglect, self-harm and bereavement.

"I fear for the impact that the closure of Headroom would have on young people. Parents and schools hold it in such high regard – it would be a travesty if it was to be stopped because Fife Council funding has been withdrawn."

Rachel Eastop, Headroom manager, said: “Teenage mental health issues are not going away.

"We’ve all read about the suicides in Fife, even over the last couple of weeks.

“So it’s very disappointing for us, and the worst case scenario is that Headroom closes.”

However, Councillor Poole said there would be no gap in mental health services for pupils in Fife as three organisations had been commissioned to take the service forward.

He said a new health and wellbeing framework, Our Minds Matter, will soon be launched and includes a significant increase in the budget for mental health services for pupils, from £90,000 to £270,000 in this year's budget.

Cllr Bryan Poole said: "This framework has been hailed as sector leading and comprehensive by both councillors and national mental health organisations. Interestingly, and noteworthy, the SNP group on Fife Council did not support this increase in budget – something that Mr Chapman fails to make mention of.

"Five years ago, when Douglas Chapman was chair of the education committee, the council didn’t provide one penny of investment to support counselling support services in Fife’s schools and sadly showed little or no interest in supporting such a service. So it’s both surprising and a little hypocritical to see this sudden concern by Mr Chapman."

Headroom put in a bid for a new Fife-wide service, covering the 18 high schools in the Kingdom, but said only £50,000 was available.

They said it would be unable to support that number of schools on that money.

Two Fife-based organisations, Drug and Alcohol Project Limited and Fife Employment Access Trust, and one national organisation, the Scottish Association for Mental Health, have been commissioned to take over this service.

Cllr Poole added: "A very strong partnership is being developed to ensure the emotional wellbeing of young people in Fife is in the best of hands for the next few years.

"It is not for Fife Council or indeed NHS Fife to financially support voluntary organisations per se, however well intentioned they are.

"Our responsibility is to ensure the very best service, irrespective of which organisation, is put in place and we have to maintain that distinction."

Headroom has assisted more than 1,500 young people, aged 11 to 17, since 2006 and Ms Eastop said: “We’re not interested in a Fife-wide service – our passion is Dunfermline and her schools.

“Hopefully, we can negotiate along with schools and a new council administration in May to put together a package for counselling.

“We can limp along, probably until the end of summer."