Mid Wales CAB relief as grant is cut
Citizens Advice Bureau officials have spoken of their relief after councillors in Mid Wales backed down on plans to axe all funding to the charity.
The charity will lose 15 per cent of its annual £93,580 grant from Powys County Council after the authority set a new budget aimed at finding £20 million of savings.
But the CAB had been facing losing all of its grant until the plans were revised at a full council meeting earlier this week where the budget was agreed.
The CAB is now seeking urgent meetings with senior councillors to work out how services can still be effectively delivered in Powys with reduced funding.
Chris Mann, chairman of CAB trustees in Powys, said: "To lose 15 per cent of our council funding is bad enough but the original plan to cut it by 100 per cent would have been a catastrophe for our clients who the most vulnerable people in the community.
"Powys councillors have recognised just how valuable the CAB's work is, not just because of the £2.2 million we recovered for clients last year but in minimizing the social harm of poverty, deprivation and problems like debt, housing and employment issues."
Muriel Ryan, CAB manager for Powys, said: "It's vital that our volunteers and paid staff continue to operate throughout Powys. That much was evident by the over five thousand people who signed our petition to keep the CAB going. Our volunteers were heartened by the positive comments from numerous councillors who appreciate the dedicated work they do."
The 2014/15 budget, set on Wednesday, means council tax will increase by 85p a week for a Band D property in Powys. At the meeting in Llandrindod Wells the council approved an annual council tax increase of 4.5 per cent for the 2014/2015 financial year. Leader Councillor Barry Thomas said: "This year's budget has been one of the hardest ever for the council with a significant cut in funding, ever increasing service pressures resulting in the need for a £20 million reduction in spending.
"Reducing our spending by such an amount was never going to be easy and our budget proposals were always likely to attract some criticism. But we have to balance the needs of providing statutory services such as education and social care, alongside those that are socially desirable while taking into account the county's ability to pay."
