Council cuts cash for busy social agency

Right-wing councillors on the Auckland City Council have cut $65,000 from a grant to the Citizens Advice Bureau at a time of soaring demand for the social agency.

Citizens Advice Bureau city manager Lynne Barraclough said the cut could compromise services when the economic downturn had resulted in an increase in inquiries about housing, financial, personal and family issues.

Figures for the first three months of the year showed a 16.7 per cent increase in inquiries over the same period last year, she said.

The chairman of the council's community services committee, Paul Goldsmith said he was comfortable with the situation because the city branch had reserves of $250,000.

Mr Goldsmith, a right-wing Citizens & Ratepayers councillor, used his casting vote to cut the services' grant from $642,162 to $577,000 from July.

C&R councillors Graeme Mulholland and Noelene Raffills also voted for the cut.

The leader of the left-wing City Vision ticket, Richard Northey, said C&R had destroyed 40 years of partnership between the council and the volunteer organisation.

"Aucklanders suffering from personal and financial crises, and in desperate need of advice over essential needs like housing and jobs, are the people who will suffer most from this devastating C&R decision," he said.

Lynne Barraclough said the council grant paid for all the operational costs of 11 branches in the city. It received money from other sources for things such as training and special projects.

"We are not just a social service. We are part of the social fabric of this city."

The agency asked the council for $877,395 this year from a new strategic relationships fund of $680,000 aimed at building relationships with community groups that support the council's goals and community outcomes.

Mr Northey and two other left-wing councillors, Graeme Easte and Denise Roche, unsuccessfully tried to approve a grant of $877,395. They also failed to get a grant of $642,162.

Mr Goldsmith said the outcome was a compromise under which the agency could dip into "its reasonably substantial reserves" and the council came up with $577,000.