Exclusive by Alan Quick

THERE are fears for the future of a much-valued service which supports many people in the Crediton area.

A local man, who contacted the “Crediton Courier”, says he is “extremely concerned” for the future of the Crediton branch of the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Dennis Mardon, who lives in the town, said: “I understand that Mid Devon District Council is looking to reduce the funding of the Mid Devon Citizens Advice Bureau service by 30 per cent in 2016/17, 50 per cent in 2017/18 and 100 per cent in 2018/19.”

He went on: “This proposal will cause extreme difficulty for all those Mid Devon people already facing a very uncertain future resulting from the changes to welfare, housing and council tax benefits and, in future, may have nowhere to turn for help.

“This will also have a major impact on the economy of the area, affecting local businesses and the local authority itself with increased rent and council tax arrears.

“Evidence from work undertaken by the University of Bath shows that for every £1 of grant to the Citizens Advice service, client income benefits to the tune of £64.33 but, equally important, the study shows improvement in the health and well-being of these people, thus reducing their call on other services such as the local GP surgeries, hospitals, etc.

“The Citizens Advice service provide a range of services often working with other charities to provide help and support to people in real need.

“All this work, mostly provided by volunteers, relies on the ‘core service’, which is largely funded by grants from the district and county councils.

“As part of CAB Devon, Mid Devon CAB have been involved in the following services in the last few years: disability and health, Big Energy Saving Network, Energy Best Deal, debt and benefits in Children’s Centres, Fairer Charging, Financial Capability projects, Heathwatch Devon, IT support to the voluntary sector, Macmillan/FORCE cancer charity projects, Memory Café, MS Society, outreach services, Quids for Kids, Reaching Communities, Webchat Pilot, Welfare Reform and working age carers.

“If we lose the core service then all these other services will disappear as well.

“I fully understand the pressures on local authority funding at the present time but I urge our local councillors to think long and hard about this proposal and consider if this small amount of money can really be better spent on other services and whether, taking account of the likely increase in council tax and rent arrears, it will ultimately be a saving at all.”

‘NOT AS DEEP AS PLANNED’

Cllr Frank Letch, the Mayor of Crediton, also a Mid Devon District Councillor, told the “Courier” that he had attended a meeting on Tuesday, November 10 with Mid Devon District Council officers and, following discussion held at the meeting, he was pleased to say: “The cuts proposed are not likely to be quite as deep as originally planned.”

He added that the Crediton CAB had many users and was more widely used than some other bureau elsewhere because it had a wide rural catchment area.

“It is a very helpful, local office, assisting people with things like benefits and advising on all manner of things.

“We need to monitor the Crediton bureau’s work to ensure we have evidence of usage because that sort of information will be essential as all grants to keep the Crediton bureau running, as well as all the others, are from the public purse.”

Crediton CAB rents offices at the Mid Devon District Council-owned council offices in Market Street, Crediton.

Mid Devon District Council recently announced that it plans to close its Crediton Area Office, in the same building, with effect from April 1, 2016.

It is feared that cuts to Crediton CAB could also threaten the viability of the building unless MDDC finds new tenants for the building which also contains the offices of Crediton Town Council and Crediton and District Community Transport.

• Do you think Mid Devon District Council should go ahead with its proposed cut to Crediton CAB?

If you have a view, why not share it with fellow “Courier” readers?

Send a letter, suitable for publication, to the Editorial Manager, “Crediton Courier”, 102 High Street, Crediton EX17 3LF or email: [email protected] .