"Advice centre warning over 'devastating' legal aid cuts .Saturday, April 28, 2012 Nottingham Post Follow.A £100,000 funding cut to a St Ann's advice centre could leave vulnerable people at risk, it is claimed.
The St Ann's Welfare Advice Centre, in Robin Hood Chase, is set to lose the money due to Government cuts to legal aid funding.
Cause for concern: St Ann's Welfare Advice centre manager Debbie Webster is worried about the effects of cuts to legal aid funding. .Debbie Webster, manager at the centre, said the cash shortfall would hit the disadvantaged, elderly and mentally disabled people the hardest.
She said: "These cuts just seem to have been steamrollered through Parliament without considering that they will take away legal funding services from some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
"In St Ann's this would be disastrous because a lot of vulnerable people living below the poverty line rely on our advice to find out which benefits they are entitled to.
"Without our help, they could end up going without, especially the elderly people who aren't used to asking for help and would be even less able to get help without our legal advice service."
"The centre is not set to close due to the funding cuts, as it is supported by Nottingham City Council, but the legal aid funding will be sorely missed by people in St Ann's."
The centre recently won a contract with the city council which will fund its general debt advice service for the next two to three years, but that money cannot be used for legal aid. ............."
