THREE staff at Thurrock’s Citizen’s Advice Bureau have been made redundant after Government cuts to legal aid advice. From April this year, legal aid advice will be abolished for the majority of benefit, employment, debt and housing issues.

Thurrock CAB said this has impacted severely on its funding and is worried about the impact it will have on its ability to help people with complicated problems.

Mike Rawlings, chief officer of Thurrock CAB, pictured right, said: “The Government’s decision to remove legal aid advice has unfortunately led to three staff being issued with redundancy notices.

“We are awaiting decisions on other funding streams and hope some of our staff will be retained in other roles.

“We are supporting affected staff through this difficult time. It will also lead to the closure of our outreach services throughout the borough. People can still get general advice from our office in Grays.”

Thurrock CAB is a registered charity. It is funded by Thurrock Council, the Big Lottery and voluntary donations. Last year it dealt with more than 21,000 inquiries from people in the borough.

Mr Rawlings said the organisation feared the consequences of the decision will mean people won’t be able to get the help they need.

He said: “We’re very concerned that while we hope to retain these highly-trained advisers, they will not be doing the specialist advice work.

“This is particularly worrying given the shake-up of the benefit system means more people need our help.”

Mr Rawlings said he thought the changes were unfair, adding: “These cuts will create a justice gap between those who can afford to pay for legal advice and those who can’t.”