£16.8million fund for advice services

The Cabinet Office has announced a £16.8million fund for free advice services in England, to be delivered by the Big Fund, the non-lottery arm of the Big Lottery Fund.

The fund will open for applications by the end of November and will provide grants to organisations providing debt, welfare benefits, employment and housing advice services. Applicants will have to provide advice in at least one of the four areas and be able to evidence public funding cuts of at least 10 per cent for those advice service areas from central and local government sources in 2011/12.

The fund will provide grants worth between £40,000 and £70,000 to be spent on service delivery.

In addition, the Cabinet Office has announced that it will carry out a review to ensure people have access to good quality free advice services in their communities. Concluding early next year, the review will look at the funding environment for the services, likely levels of demand and how the government can play a positive role.