Wokingham’s CAB

On Friday I attended the CAB event which followed their AGM in St Paul’s Parish rooms. I talked to the Chief Executive and some of the volunteers who provide such good help and assistance to those in need in our community.
Over the last year the biggest demand has been for help with benefits and tax credits, followed by debt, employment and housing. The friendly and wise advice that the CAB can provide is often important in helping people manage the problems in their daily lives, whether it be about money or disputes, jobs or homes. I am grateful to all of them for what they do.

11 Comments

  1. rose
    September 18, 2016

    I don’t know how bad homelessness is in your constituency. Does it come under your heading of “housing”? How many people have you got in tents? It seems that is one difference between us and the continentals: they keep the housing and the immigrants go in tents while here it is the other way round.

  2. Lifelogic
    September 18, 2016

    Indeed with the absurd complexity of benefits, the legal system, taxation and endless other things almost everyone must need hours of advice. The departments concerned are almost impossible to contact unless you have special contact numbers and the likes. Rarely replying sensibly to letters or phone calls.

    The existence of absurd lenders, lending funds at APR’s in the 1000s, to desperate people who clearly should not be taking loans at all, can hardly help.

    1. alan jutson
      September 19, 2016

      Lifelogic

      First paragraph spot on.

      The solution is to simplify the system so that more people understand how it works, and what they may or may not be be entitled to.

      Unfortunately we have politicians in charge who simply want to micromanage these things.

      How many pages of explanation now for our tax system, is it still 17,000 or has it grown further.

  3. Oggy
    September 18, 2016

    You’re lucky to have a CAB, all our local ones have been closed down to save money.

    1. Lifelogic
      September 19, 2016

      Along with public loos, libraries, sport centres and countless other things. Why is it that we have to pay more and more in absurdly high taxes and yet get less and less in public services or indeed anything of real value from the state.

    2. alan jutson
      September 19, 2016

      Oggy

      Local Office just been partly re equipped by our Local Lions Club, such is the need for its service !

      Charity organisations supporting yet again a failure in local and National Government provision.

  4. Brigham
    September 18, 2016

    This is off topic, but I couldn’t resist it. Lord Kinnock said he probably won’t see a labour government in his lifetime. Let us all pray he lives forever.

    1. Lifelogic
      September 20, 2016

      Kinnock is not exactly a proven expert at judging what makes Labour electable.

      Corbyn’s ideas on “economics” are clearly even dafter than Osborne’s and would not work. He keeps going on about opposing “austerity” which is I think shorthand for believing in the magic money tree. You might as well say “I oppose the laws of physics” mind you that is indeed what the green loons do.

      Owen Smith if anything seems even worse. He is clearly against democracy and wants to just ignore the overwhelming leave vote. What is it in those Welsh hills that produces all these totally misguided dopes?

  5. Bryan
    September 18, 2016

    Might be interesting if we knew what a CAB was.

    1. bigneil
      September 20, 2016

      Citizens advice bureau.

  6. Iain Gill
    September 19, 2016

    Thanks for this post John.

    Along with the lifeboats this is one of the areas of voluntary service that shows the best of this country

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