Services cut for vulnerable in Staffordshire as council pulls £510,000 from Citizens Advice

Staffordshire County Council is set to withdraw £510,000 worth of funding which will prompt sweeping changes to the CA from Thursday.

But the county council has vowed that it will work with the CA to provide as much of the service as possible without its funding.

Councillor Alan White, care and wellbeing chief, said: "Although we approached partners to see if any additional financial support could be found, unfortunately very little was offered."

The cuts will mean a specialist service for people with mental health problems, which helped around 500 last year, is to be axed along with a home visit service to help older people with their benefits.

A face-to-face service, which helped 1,200 people last year, is set to be scaled down and stopped altogether in some areas.

And telephone service used for advice and booking appointments is set to be severely reduced. More than 18,000 people called the CA last year, but in some areas people will have to attend offices instead.

Sue Nicholls, chief executive of Citizens Advice Staffordshire South West which includes Cannock and Stafford, said on behalf of services across Staffordshire: "It is really important that people across Staffordshire have access to independent and impartial advice to help solve their problems.

"It is disappointing that the county council funding is being withdrawn which will mean a reduction in the range of services, specialist services and support we offer to local people.

"However, we have a number of other funders including district councils and together with our dedicated staff and volunteers we will continue to provide advice to as many people as possible."

Councillor White added: "As a county council we have to work with the budget we have available and need to prioritise funding for those services which we have a legal duty to provide, such as the care of the elderly, people with learning disabilities, and the children in our care.

"This has meant making some difficult decisions about the funding of non-statutory services, including the debt, benefits and consumer advice service currently provided for us by the Citizens Advice."

Citizens Advice provided advice and support to more than 30,000 people in Staffordshire last year. A 5,000-name petition was handed into the council calling for the decision to be reversed.