Contested funding for Hutt CAB

Two Lower Hutt Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) offices are set to lose guaranteed council funding from next year.

The Petone and Lower Hutt CABs which receive a combined $87,000 a year from the Hutt City Council will need to apply for funding through contestable streams from July 1, 2019.

Last month staff and volunteers at the Wellington CAB (WelCAB) feared for the future of their organisation when it was denied a renewal of a three-year funding grant by the Wellington City Council.

WelCAB was given a reprieve earlier this month when it was granted funding for another year and further funding for two more years pending a review.

Council city and community services manager Matt Reid said the council changed its community funding model last year to improve equity across other programmes. The new model was geared towards targeting inequality with a focus on tamariki and young people in high depravation areas, as well as the elderly who were living alone or were in social isolation.

Whether or not the CABs would lose out on funding was up to how they applied for the new contestable grants, he said. ‘‘They should be pretty clear on what we will fund and what we won’t fund. They’ll need to look at our criteria and apply accordingly.’’

The council valued the services of the CAB and was committed to helping them find ways to continue delivering their services. It had spoken to the CABs about how their services could be optimised by operating in high foot traffic areas such as the council’s libraries and community hubs which had about two million visits a year.

Lower Hutt CAB manager Lynne Philp was confident they would be able to continue serving the community. She said they enjoyed a good relationship with the council and the CAB’s activities fitted well with the contestable funding criteria.

‘‘The council has assured us that they consider our services to be very important to the community and they want to work closely with us as we move forward serving the community.’’

The Lower Hutt CAB helped more than 6000 clients with queries in the 2016 – 2017 year.

‘‘[Our service is] unique, really. To have that first point of call – a person to talk to where [people] can receive nonjudgmental advice.’’