THE future of the Wee County's free advice services is under threat amid proposed council cuts to the voluntary sector.

Clackmannanshire Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), which dealt with more than 19,000 issues for local people, putting £2.5million back into the community just last year, is warning loss of core funding from the council will see all services cease.

The CAB says local authority funding of £107,000 a year covers but 60 per cent of its core service costs.

Recently published proposals for Clackmannanshire Council’s 2019-20 budget highlight a reduction in money for the service as one of a number of potential savings across the voluntary sector.

Jonny Miller, managing director at Clacks CAB, celebrated more than 50 years of free advice to Wee County residents last year.

He oversees the work of seven staff salaried from the council funding, 23 other staff chiefly paid for by charitable trusts, as well as 45 trained volunteers.

He said: “Over the last three months we have helped 86 people who were at risk of eviction who instead are now being supported to budget better and pay back their debts.

“If we were not here to do that these people could have been evicted and been homeless, which would have cost thousands of pounds to the council and caused immeasurable misery.

“These cuts proposed will only serve to hit the poorest and most vulnerable in our society who CAB staff are fighting every day to help."

The CAB chief also warned: “Additional funding for the other work is only possible because we have our core funding – and without the council’s funding, CAB will close and all services will cease.”

A number of proposed cuts have been compiled by officers as councillors look to set the budget in the next few months, facing a shortfall of around £11m.

Introducing the options, council chief executive Nikki Bridle said: “After making savings of around 30 per cent over the past decade, it is now almost impossible to find savings which will not impact on individuals and communities.

“The council’s budget seeks to protect essential services while improving the council’s financial sustainability, with a clear focus on stopping discretionary services and reducing performance standards towards the statutory minimum.”

Anthea Coulter, chief officer and business manager at Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface, also voiced concerns over other proposed cuts to more voluntary groups and charities.

These include the withdrawal of funding to The Gate foodbank, grants to OAP groups, and a reduction in money given to charities Barnardo’s as well as Action for Children.

She said that with commitments given to improve Wee County children’s lives, as per the Local Outcome Improvement Plan, the council showed “heartless hypocrisy and complete lack of understanding of the issues in the area” by cutting services that help children and tackle poverty.

Anthea is seeking the support of locals to help fight the cuts and is urging people to submit comments to councillors, the chief executive or through the online platform Citizenspace.

Alternatively, she is also launching petitions this week.