Dudley charity worker slams Welfare team cut
A charity worker and debt councillor is calling on Dudley Council to reconsider its ‘kneejerk reaction’ to scrap a vital service
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Joy Moss, co-ordinator at Stourbridge foodbank, says the authority’s plans to reduce the Welfare Rights Team as part of a bid to save £42m in its latest budget needs a rethink.
Ms Moss believes many service users at the foodbank have been helped by the team which offers support for people to ensure they get all the benefits they are entitled to.
Ms Moss said: “They are scrapping one of the most useful teams you have got at Dudley Council.
“They will have a lot more people who won’t be paying their bills like council tax and rent.
“If people are getting the benefits they are entitled to they can pay their bills, it’s a win-win.”
Last year, the under-threat Welfare Rights Team is believed to have secured around £1m in benefits for people who were not aware they could claim or were unable to complete application forms.
Dudley Council, which will save £300,000 a year by cutting the service, argues it will still support people by signposting them to appropriate services like Citizens Advice Bureau but Ms Moss believes this solution will not work.
She added: “They will get no help at all, CAB is overwhelmed and adult social care, which is the mandatory one, will say they have no capacity to help.
“Most people won’t have the knowledge WRT has, the council is removing a service that really helps people.
“While you have got separate teams, with WRT you have got benefits, council tax and rent all under one roof. They are cutting off their nose to spite their face.”
An open letter from independent councillor Andrew Tromans to Dudley’s cabinet member for finance, Cllr Steve Clark, and signed by Lib Dem and independent councillors, the Central England Law Centre, Dudley TUC, Life Centre Debt Advice and community workers also urged a rethink.
The letter said: “Whilst we understand the need to deliver a balanced budget, we write to you to express our concern that this should not be done at the expense of the most vulnerable in our borough.
“Access to quality welfare advice is needed by our residents more than ever with cuts to winter fuel allowance, the two-child benefit cap and energy bills set to rise again in April.”
