I'm sure it will not come as any great surprise that many probation clients have serious financial problems. Despite the widespread misconception that a comfortable lifestyle can be enjoyed on benefit, the reality for many long term claimants is a steady downward spiral into debt. These are the people who have to resort to so-called 'doorstep lending' at astronomical rates of interest. By a cruel twist of the way consumerism works, it's a well established fact that virtually every basic necessity of life, from energy to food is proportionally more expensive for this group as well. Trying to budget sensibly on very limited fixed incomes is difficult at the best of times and many of our clients are not always the best of decision makers in the first place.
All this inevitably means that for offenders trying to change their behaviour, help and advice about debt problems is essential. All probation officers try to offer sound advice on a whole host of issues, but in my experience the local Citizens Advice Bureau has proved an absolutely vital service to clients over the years. Able to offer free support and expert guidance not just in relation to finances, but also many other issues such as housing, benefit and employment problems, I cannot believe that any government would allow its funding to be jeopardised. But, hard on the heels of the news that core funding for debt advisers has been cancelled, with CAB having to make many redundant, we now hear that Local Authorities intend to reduce their funding as well. Incredibly it looks as if all the bureau's in Birmingham will close for instance.
We all know that savings have to be made somewhere, but decimating the CAB service, staffed as it is mainly by volunteers, seems to fly in the face of all common sense. It will hit the poorest hardest; demand for their service is likely to increase; it will do nothing to aid the rehabilitation of offenders with debt problems and of course sends out entirely the wrong signal in relation to the governments aspiration for a 'Big Society.'
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