I HAVE been incensed to hear of the reduced funding to the Citizens Advice Service. If the one-stop shop can provide some of the services that the Citizens Advice service does the council employees need to be made aware that this is the case. My experien

I HAVE been incensed to hear of the reduced funding to the Citizens Advice Service.

If the one-stop shop can provide some of the services that the Citizens Advice service does the council employees need to be made aware that this is the case.

My experience with the Citizens Advice Bureau has been invaluable: one problem with my landlord, another with goods supplied by a local shop have all been successfully resolved. Had it not been for the free service provided by the bureau I would have been financially out of pocket and at a loss of what to do.

Compare that with the one-stop shop service, where I was incorrectly directed to the Citizens Advice Bureau for a housing benefit query.

Secondly, if we are talking duplication of services being offered, Fenland District Council needs to look very much closer to home - at planning applications and housing applications.

Fenland Hall does provide these services, that is if you can find an employee who is not in a meeting, on a flexi-day, away sick or on holiday.

Recent redundancy announcements for employees of Fenland Council, seem to be a massage of the figures, the staff being replaced by more staff at the one-stop shops, consultants and suspicious new positions.

I want to see action and value for my money, the state of our local amenities and services is clearly not at the top of Fenland District Council's agenda.

Would it not have been more financially astute to place a Fenland Council employee in the Citizens Advice Bureau offices and save the cost of the posh new equipment and premises of the one-stop shop?

Finally I agree with Councillor Ray German that £81,000 is not a small amount. However, I am sure it is a crucial amount for the Citizens Advice Service, to continue with the excellent service it offers. The amount is a drop in the ocean when compared with the refurbishment costs of the one-stop shops and the ongoing staffing costs of council employees.

LOUISE GARNER

via e-mail