THE WEEK IN East Bristol & North East Somerset
23rd March 2022
Issue 722
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Concern for vulnerable families over Citizens Advice Bureau cuts There are fears about the impact on vulnerable families in South Gloucestershire as council budget cuts of 35% will see some Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) services cut from 1st April. The cuts will mean the closure of the Staple Hill High Street office, which for 47 years has offered independent and free expert advice to thousands of local residents. And concern was raised at last week’s Oldland Parish Council meeting about the impending loss of the well-used CAB outreach service at Juice Community Project in Cadbury Heath too and the impact on the ability of families to seek help and advice, particularly in the current climate. Just last month Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire reported a 95% increase in people across the district coming to them for problems with fuel debt. They said that with further hikes coming in April, this was “the tip of the
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iceberg”. Advice services in South Gloucestershire have historically been led by the CAB but funding from the council has been reduced by more than £100,000. Under the new five-year contract, parts of the service will be delivered by the council from 1st April. The key locations for face-to-face advice will be the council’s One Stop Shops in Kingswood, Yate and Patchway and no longer in the district’s ‘priority neighbourhoods’ which include Cadbury Heath and Staple Hill. Oldland parish councillor Barry West told fellow members that he had learned that the CAB’s outreach service at Juice has lost its funding of £15,000 per year for a one-morning-aweek service, and that the nearest place that local families will be able to access face-to-face support is Kingswood which will mean an outlay on bus fares. He added that some residents struggle to access services digitally. Fellow parish councillor Jon Parker said he could not help contrasting the £15,000 a year for the CAB service in Cadbury Heath and the £500,000 which South Gloucestershire Council is allocating for a new park to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. He said he appreciated it was different pots of money but that if for example the fund for the new park was reduced to £450,000, that would provide at least three years of CAB funding. “I can’t help feeling that the community might prefer that sort of balance,” he said. The parish council decided to write to Rob Walsh, the head
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of Safe Strong Communities at South Gloucestershire Council, to seek his views, bearing in mind that with the impending fuel poverty crisis, residents need a local advice facility more than ever. This week a South Gloucestershire Council spokesperson told us that the pandemic meant that many services delivered face-to-face needed to be provided online and by telephone. “The new service will build on this and while residents will be able to access and be referred to services through our One Stop Shops, there will also be digital access via webchat facilities and downloadable help guides available so that information, advice and guidance on financial, legal and benefits issues will be available through more channels than before the pandemic.” The spokesperson added: “While we recognise that people needing help may come from anywhere in the district, the areas of highest demand are centralised around Patchway, Kingswood and Yate, which is why we are using our One Stop Shops as a primary in-person access point, in addition to the online and telephone support.” South Gloucestershire Council says it is committed to working closely with partners to attract additional grant funding from other sources so that the service can be expanded further where possible.
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