Getting debt advice could get harder in Newtownabbey

For more and more people the ability to get free, sound debt advice has become increasingly important. This is due the financial difficulties that many people are facing, and the problems that they have when it comes to repayments of their debts. Over the past couple of years the number of people signing up for debt advice has soared, with charities dealing with a huge number of cases.

However, it has emerged that those looking for debt advice in the Newtownabbey area may struggle to get it in the future after councillors made a preliminary decision to cut the funding of the local Citizen’s Advice Bureau by around one third. This has come as devastating news to the CAB, which would have to compromise on support given to those looking for advice on debt or other issues and consider redundancies.

Citizens Advice Bureau manager Pat Hutchinson has now had to attend a recent Development Committee meeting where she has had to appeal to councillors to keep the funding for the CAB as it is rather than slashing it in the way that has been planned. Whilst a decision had already been made to cut the budget, councillors delayed matters to give the CAB a chance to appeal.  

She told councillors: “To reduce the level of funding by such an extent would mean a cut in the service provision for the people of Newtownabbey and we would have to consider redundancy. Last year we dealt with 36,761 issues from 16,127 contacts. That is an increase on the previous year and more than the Northern Ireland average. And we recovered £3 million for clients, £11 for every pound invested. Advisors have dealt with 3,342 issues or 1,466 contacts on average each – it is a massive workload. The staff cost per contact is £13.42, around £10 cheaper than it is in Belfast or Derry. We are the only independent advice provider in Newtownabbey and with the increase in personal debt there will be a further increase in people needing advice.”       

Tags: Development Committee, charities, sound debt advice, preliminary decision, previous year, northern ireland

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