CAB service is facing axe in funding crisis

Poole's CAB branch will be forced to withdraw its welfare benefit advice and support service, which has helped more than a thousand people to claim nearly a million pounds in benefits after changes in legal aid funding.

The government is tightening up the record-keeping process, limiting the time spent on any one case and reducing the amount the bureau receives.

Poole CAB had a £40,000 a year contract through the Legal Aid Board to deliver the service, which created two posts, which will now be axed.

Manager Richard Bristow said: "We only cover people who are eligible for legal aid, so it's a huge risk whether we are going to bring enough people in, without losing money.

"We see 3,500 people a year, 500 of whom have mental health or learning difficulties, making them among the most vulnerable people in society.

"We're worried that losing this specialist service will seriously affect some of the most vulnerable people in Poole. It included working with people with severe mental health problems, learning difficulties, Parkinson's and MS.

"We've applied to the council for additional funds."

Bureau caseworker Clive Browne, who faces redundancy over the cuts, said: "Most people seen have physical and mental health problems, often both. Claiming sickness benefit for the mentally ill has to be done sensitively but in detail. Even completing the basic forms can take hours."

Richard Killer, a solicitor with Poole-based Dickinson Manser, used to refer two clients a month.

He said: "The CAB is a good last stop for the impoverished in society. Legal aid offers them a pitiful rate of pay but a high rate of bureaucracy."

Bournemouth CAB ended its contract to provide welfare benefits and debt help last year.

Social services' John Dermody said: "We are assessing the overall impact of the CAB's welfare benefit service, which has previously been funded by a Legal Services Commission, to establish whether the council can justify support for the service."