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Citizens Advice Darlington launches campaign against cuts

A charity which has helped hundreds of thousands of people in the borough of Darlington for more than 75 years has launched a campaign as it faces closure due to crippling funding cuts. Bosses at Citizens Advice Darlington say they could be forced to shut their doors within 12 months after money from the borough council dried up. The bureau has written to all 50 councillors on Darlington Borough Council and launched a petition in a bid to force a reconsideration of the decision. If the bureau closes it will mean: No more help for nearly 10,000 people using the service every year; Darlington would become the only town in the North East of England without a Citizens Advice Bureau; Vital advice for people in debt, on benefits, the homeless and the 25,000 problems solved every year would not exist; The £4.2 million worth of benefits that people are entitled to would go unclaimed. Robert Murphy, chairman of Citizens Advice Darlington Trustee Board, said: “I still feel quite numb. Many Local Authorities are considering increasing their support to their CABs to help deal with the aftermath of the cuts, so to receive a 100 per cent cut is deeply disheartening. I am extremely worried about the continuance of the Citizens Advice service if these proposals go ahead.” Darlington Borough Council is proposing to save £104,825 a year by withdrawing its strategic grant to Citizens Advice Darlington. The independent charity is one of five organisations affected by the withdrawal of strategic grants, which the council has said will save it a total of £225,000 a year. Neeraj Sharma, chief executive of Citizens Advice Darlington, said: “Clearly there are difficult decisions to be made, however, this position is no different from the thousands of residents living and working in Darlington who find themselves in financial crisis and, on this basis, I would offer the same advice to the council as I would to any struggling Darlington resident and that is, ‘Do not to cancel your home insurance, as the financial risks outweigh the immediate cost benefit’. Time and time again we are told that there is no duty for the council to provide a preventative service, however, given the bureau evidence of demand we would argue that the need for crisis support and preventative action is not interchangeable and to dispense with CAB system of dealing with both will have grave financial and human consequences for the town.” In the letters sent to borough councillors, Mr Murphy states: “We appreciate that the council has an unenviable task of having to implement budget savings of £12.5 million in 2016-17 alone. We are immensely grateful for the productive and mutually beneficial working relationship which Citizens Advice Darlington has had with the council since 1939 to the benefit of hundreds of thousands of local people. However, we are compelled to highlight the devastating impact which these cuts will have for Citizens Advice Darlington, town residents, the voluntary sector at large and the council itself. The current proposals include a 100 per cent cut to the annual grant for Citizens Advice Darlington.” Mr Sharma said: “We provide preventative, crisis and rehabilitative advice, training and information. We are a one-stop shop open to all, regardless of age or ability, dealing with all legal enquiry areas such as benefit, debts, employment, housing, family, and consumer law. We also provide a specialist caseworker dealing with debt, benefits and housing. Last year, we prevented 651 people from being made homeless, which would have cost the Local Authority more than £1m in housing and associated costs. We are also Darlington’s leading volunteer centre. Volunteers are the lifeline of the service and last year their contribution was £408,930, which would have otherwise been paid in wages.” The charity is appealing to the public to support its campaign by signing a petition both in the bureau and online at www.change.org. It is also asking employers and individuals to lobby their ward councillors in a bid to prevent the closure of the advice service.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Citizens Advice Darlington .