Suffolk County Council has to balance its budget every year and to do this in 2019/2020 the authority needs to find around £22 million. At the start of its budget process, the council identified £11.2 million of potential savings which included the proposal to remove the grants it gives to help part-fund Suffolk’s CABs.
The council currently provides, alongside other funders, an annual grant of £368,500 to support the local Citizens Advice (CAB) service in Suffolk.
Through the council’s scrutiny process, the proposal to remove this grant in 2019/2020 was revised to a phased reduction which would see the grant being halved to £184,250 in 2019/20, before being removed in 2020/21.
This consultation focuses on understanding how the proposed, and now revised changes to the local Citizens Advice (CAB) funding grant may affect Suffolk residents who come under one or more of the nine protected groups that form part of the Equality Act 2010 which covers:
- the Equal Pay Act 1970
- the Sex Discrimination Act 1975
- the Race Relations Act 1976
- the Disability Discrimination Act 1995
- the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003
- the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
- the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006
- the Equality Act 2006, Part 2
- the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
More information regarding the Equality Act 2010 can be found in the further reading section.
The results of the consultation will inform the council’s final decision on its budget, which will be made on 14 February 2019.
Further reading
You can read the following:
Response to the consultation
This consultation is now closed. The results are now being analysed and will be published here shortly. The results will be used to help inform the council’s decision on this matter.