§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will arrange for extra funding to be made available to the Bradford citizens advice bureau, to enable it to cope with any additional demands arising from the closure of Bradford benefits shops.
§ Mr. ForthNo. My Department does not fund individual citizens advice bureaux direct. The Government grant to the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, which this financial year amounted to £8.386 million, is intended principally to meet the costs of providing the central support services for local bureaux, such as the information service and the training of bureau workers. The running costs of local bureaux are a matter for local funding and the majority of bureaux are funded entirely by local authorities, although part of the Government grant to NACAB is made available for use in short-term partnership arrangements between NACAB and individual local authorities. The allocation of this partnership money is at the discretion of NACAB.