Advice bureau under pressure
MORE than 13,000 people – 9,144 of them new clients – turned to Maidstone Citizen’s Advice Bureau for help in the year to April. Kent’s largest CAB saw slightly fewer people than the previous year, but the bureau found the number and com- plexity of problems – some 56,000 – increased. The most common involved benefits and tax credits (34%); debt (18%); relationships (11%); legal (10%); and em- ployment and housing (9% each). Other problems were with consumer goods and serv- ices, education, health, immi- gration, tax and utilities. It follows an equally difficult financial year for the CAB in
Jobs support THE harsh economic climate meant there was no fall in the number of clients approaching the CAB with issues regarding dismissals and wages. Employment adviser Tania
Weber said: “So far this year, we have obtained about £150,000 compensation for our clients, as well as enabling the reinstatement or retention of several others. “The number of women dis- missed appears to have in- creased this year, and a worrying proportion have been dismissedwhile pregnant or on maternity leave, which suggests some employers are discriminating against them.”
Thief in court A MAN has appeared before Mid Kent Magistrates’ Court where he was convicted of three counts of shoplifting in Maidstone. Lee Haynes (48), of Chatham,
stole vacuum cleaners worth al- most £300 and clothes worth £895 from a shop in Fremlin Walk, Maidstone. Magistrates sentenced him to
120 days in prison, suspended for 18 months, and gave him a three-month curfew to remain at an address in Church Street, Hoo, between 10pm and 7am daily, until December 1.
Scheme for 12 flats A FORMER therapeutic centre for vulnerable adults at 12 Ton- bridge Road,Maidstonemay be converted into nine flats. A planning application by Accommodation Yes Ltd seeks to provide six one-bed flats and three bedsits for the private
market.Maidstone Councilwill determine the proposal.
Green lessons MAIDSTONE Grammar School has applied to install solar pan- els and three “monodraught” wind catchers. Maidstone Council will determine the planning application.
Maidstone, which faced a major cut in funding that led to redundancies and reduced hours for some paid staff. Only a lottery grant will
allow it to maintain a small highly-specialised advice team for borough residents in the key areas of debt management, ben- efits, employment and housing. In the meantime, the lottery transition money, which lasts two years, will be used to give further specialist training to all volunteer frontline staff. CAB also receives a core grant from Maidstone Council. Chief executive Bonny Mal-
hotra said: “We will want to keep our specialist salaried team, but we will have to look elsewhere for the money.”
IN the last financial year,Maid- stone CAB saw a huge increase in clients needing advice. A lot of this involved em- ployment and support al- lowances, following the radical shake-up of the benefit system. “The introduction of univer-
sal credit and personal inde- pendence payments will no doubt only increase the num- bers of clients accessing our service for advice as these ben- efits are introduced,” the CAB reported at its annual meeting. “As people’s in- and out-of-
work benefits are stopped, re- duced and/or frozen, this will have a knock-on effect and
Gateway centre, according to the CAB’s annual report, and for this, chairman Sir Michael Buckley praised the bureau team. He said: “Of clients surveyed,
97% said they were happy with the service they received [3% did not respond]; simi- larly, 97% that they would rec- ommend the bureau to others [3% did not respond]. “This is strong testimony to
BonnyMalhotra Advisors offered more help
last year to people at home, at outreach posts and by placing assessors at the Maidstone
Benefit changes hit home
many people will find they are unable to meet their weekly living expenditure. “This will mean that the bu-
reau will see an increase in en- quiries relating to debt and housing issues. “The introduction of the bed-
room tax and reduction to the amount of help people can re- ceive towards their council tax has already brought a lot of people to our service, con- cerned that they will not be able to pay their rent, be evicted, or that they will be taken to court for council tax arrears.”
the skill and dedication with which the staff of the bureau do their work, the trustee board, and I pay tribute to them.” Mr Malhotra added: “As long
as we have volunteers working at the CAB we will always have an open door for those who do not know where to turn.”
Help in figures In the year to April 2013, every week:
289.55 hours were spent by CAB advisers helping clients;
256 clients (or 51 a day) were seen;
156.64 hours were spent on face-to-face client work;
41.22 hours were spent advising clients on the phone;
Advisers needed 65.43 hours to write up casework.
If you would like to become a CAB advisor, call 01622 750770.
MP joins visitors at KIMS open day
THE MP for Maidstone and The Weald was among visitors to the new Kent Institute of Medicine andSurgerywhenit threwopen its doors to the public for two days. Helen Grant visited the con-
struction sitefor KIMS,whichaims to bring innovative treatments to Kent, where she met developers. She said: “Construction is about
more than mud and boots. The sector providesawide spectrumof opportunities to young people and I am keen to support the industry in their efforts, and particularly those aimed at enticing women into the STEM (science, technol- ogy, engineering and maths) sub- jects. “I verymuchlook forward to see-
ing KIMS open and I knowthatmy constituents will benefit from the innovative treatments it will pro- vide”. The KIMS site, off Bearsted Road near J7 of the M20, was
Police investigate death in flat
POLICE are looking in to the unexplained death of a KCC education specialist, found dead at his town centre flat. The body of James Sutton
(27) was found at his home in McKenzie Court, near Brench- ley Gardens, at the end of Au- gust. The results of a post mortem examinationwere inconclusive
and an inquest will be held into Mr Sutton’s death. Mr Sutton’s body was discov-
ered after neighbours reported someone trying to break in – but it was actually a concerned friend trying to attract atten- tion. The area was sealed off for several hours while forensics officers investigated.
opened to the public as part of an “Open Doors” weekend, aimed at opening up the construction in- dustry to the public to create an understanding and to inspire youngpeople towork in the sector.
Alzheimers date ALZHEIMERS patients and their carers are invited to a tea party at Holy Family church hall from 2-4pm on the last Wednesday of every month. Maidstone Alzheimers Asso- ciation offers afternoon tea and entertainment will be provided at the hall, off Bicknor Road, ParkWood. For more details, call Denise on 01622 749539.
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