Citizens Advice Feeling Effects of Cuts

Citizens Advice has issued redundancy notices to 900 debt advice staff following a government decision to cut funding to the charity.

A spokesperson for Citizens Advice confirmed to Credit Today, Insolvency Today’s sister title, that the redundancies would affect debt advisors, administrators and supervisors working on a scheme to provide debt advice in deprived communities.

The scheme was funded by the government’s Financial Inclusion Fund.

It is understood the Financial Inclusion Fund took the form of a Treasury grant worth £130m, of which £87m was allocated to Citizens Advice.

But on January 19 Mark Hoban, financial secretary to the Treasury, told the House of Commons that the Financial Inclusion Fund will cease at the end of March this year, and the government has not yet indicated whether such funding will be renewed or not.

Announcing the cut, Hoban said, “The government will work closely with industry and other stakeholders to ensure that tackling financial exclusion remains a high priority.”

Posted at 04:46PM Jan 27, 2011 by Marc Stenton in The Economy  |  Comments[0]