Citizens' Advice - A bell-wether for the Big Society

Citizens' Advice Bureaux are not generally thought of as key providers of children's services; but they are important in two ways. First, they do advise many parents on issues that impact on childern's wellbeing; debt, jobs and so on. And second, they are a bell-wether of the Big Society, as they are external, independent, and not state-run. But Birmingham CABs are about to close as part of the local Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalition's strategy to balance the budget. If the five CABs close, as they will following the loss of £50,000 per month funding, some of the most impoverished people in Birmingham will be left without any help or support and will, for example, be more vulnerable to sweet-talking userers. So what does the government say? "The funding of Citizens' Advice Bureax is a matter for Councils." But so is just about everything else, and with capping, there is no chance of increasing Council income. The services you use and care about will be next.