Council Cuts Cost of Living Support to Villages

Commenting on the decision by East Cambridgeshire District Council to respond to a 63% increase in demand for housing and financial advice in the district by withdrawing its mobile advice service to villages in order to fund extra staff at the Council offices in Ely, Charlotte Cane, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for East Cambridgeshire, says: 

"I am deeply concerned that there has been a 63% increase in residents coming forward with financial difficulties. Conservative government policies have led to high inflation and high interest rates, and Government ministers have refused to increase benefits to match these soaring costs.”

In February 2020 Conservative Councillors voted to axe the council’s £47,000 grant to the CAB in Ely, despite public concern and a petition signed by over 1,000 residents. As a result the Ely CAB closed on 31 March 2020 and residents became dependent on the service provided by the Council. Cllr Lorna Dupré, who leads the Liberal Democrat Group on the District Council, described cutting the grant to the Ely CAB at the time as a “dreadful decision”. She says:

“For just £47,000 a year the Council used to support a CAB which had twenty volunteers providing expert independent advice to residents.  Now the Council is admitting that it needs more staff to deliver the expert advice which independent volunteers once delivered.”

The Conservatives introduced the advice bus service to the villages as an addition to its home visits, which have been provided for many years. The published advice bus timetable was not regularly updated and services were cancelled too often and sometimes at short notice. The sudden withdrawal of the mobile service except in Soham and Littleport was announced without the opportunity for discussion by the council’s Operational Services Committee, which oversees this service. Cllr Mark Inskip, Liberal Democrat Lead member on the Council’s Operational Services Committee, says:

“First the Conservatives closed the CAB, now they’re withdrawing the Community Bus service from our local villages, making it increasingly difficult for East Cambs residents to access advice and support.”