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The Cuts to the Voluntary Sector
January-February 2004
What is Hitslink?
Hitslink offers advice on Welfare
benefits, Employment Rights and Employment Guidance. We
also provide our users with training, access to
Information Technology, and support into further and
higher education.
We have stop seeing new clients at the
end of May It is now June and we are still here. The
reason for this is because it takes time to finish cases.
Some of the cases we deal with can take up to a year
and over to finalise. We are going to finish as much cases
we can, before we leave. Those cases that we are unable to
finalise will be passed onto city council welfare rights
services. we have seen the demise of several
voluntary projects however many projects are still
fighting on.
v Hitslink
Threatened with Closure.
Hitslink has warned its clients that
its services are on course for closure. This
will affect You the Users of Hitslink. Hitslink has
two contracts with the city council. The Economic
Regeneration and Development Committee funds our
Employment Guidance and contributes to our ICT services.
The other contract is with Advice Services whom fund us to
provide advice on Welfare and Employment Rights. The
letters forwarded to us by the council sates that one
of the contracts would end at the end of March the other
end of May. One of the consequences of losing funding
from the city council is that we will lose our legal
service contract, that is linked to the city councils
legal service partnership, that states, that if funding
from the city council is reduced, it may well jeopardise
funding from Legal Services Commission.
v City
council is going against its statutory duty
The city council has a duty to provide
advice on, welfare benefits, housing, immigration and
employment guidance to its residents. We have repeatedly
asked councillors where Leicester citizens are going to
get advice, when they drastically reduce Advice Services
in Leicester by two thirds. No clear answer has been
given! However we have heard that the city council are
proposing to open a Call Centre. That with
be controlled and operated by the city council,
enabling Leicester residents to phone up for advice on
social, legal and welfare matters.
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