"Don't cut £25m of debt counselling..." blog discussion

Jesthar

I hate Failbook with a passion, but if there's a Facebook group started about all this, I'll join just for that! Have already signed the petition, will work on an e-mail to send to my friends/family etc.

Our local radio had a debt discussion on their morning show last week the day after I first heard about these cuts on MSE. They had a lovely lady from the CAB on giving advice, but no-one mentioned the cuts, so I sent an e-mail in to the presenter on the subject which they read out in full. Didn't expect that!

Planeshift

I agree that petitions can be counter-productive and I'm not yet convinced that facebook groups can do much as a campaign tool

There are 2 aspects to this campaign, and although the methods used are interlinked they are not the same.

The first is trying to lobby against the change. Here you need to ultimately speak the language of the coalition. You need to frame the argument as a money saving one. i.e. you need to explain how this service saves the state from having to spend money elsewhere from courts, rehousing people, or even simply cleaning up the mess from a suicide. The sum of money involved isn't huge by government standards, and I think this is a winnable case, particularly if you can directly account for the savings elsewhere - perhaps using a social return on investment model.

The second is the wider public campaign. There are some sections of public opinion (we've seen a few examples on this thread) that don't regard debt advice as a legitimate service for the taxpayer to fund, and imply that debt is a problem of personal responsibility. This means essentially persuading people that in the real world things are more complicated, and even for those who were simply reckless in their youth, the provision of advise is justified and a good service to fund. I think the best way of doing this is via a drip feed of human interest stories in the media. If you can get a story a week into the media, then you are doing your bit.

There are enough people on these boards who have problems with debt, and have recovered through the help of advice agencies (who as registered charities can't do as much campaigning work as you) to provide a good production line of human interest stories that can be placed in the media. You have the organisation with the experience to do this - that is able to get stories in the media, but also to give help and support to people who are happy to speak to the media. This would be about changing opinion over the long run, and would also benefit other aspects of your work and lobbying (such as on pricing transparency) as well as other charities who often face the obstacle of public ignorance about the issues they deal with, and politicians who see them as easy targets for cost cutting.

lemonjelly

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2011/02/11/warning-of-19-job-losses-in-citizens-advice-bureau-cuts/

Another good article with some decent stats.

I'll re-read this thread when I have a little more time.

smileyt_2

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=bd470ef694ed0b224099a0aa5&id=e03f48a902&e=

Here's another link to the justice for all campaign, asking people to send a valentine's card to Ken Clarke to tell him you love legal aid. It's all done by e-mail so only takes a minute. Might be worth a go. I've sent mine (tis the only valentine's card I'll be sending this year, lol, who would've thought it would be to Ken Clarke!!)

Radiantsoul

I wonder if you could approach the banks and major financial service organisations and ask for them to make donations.

Having worked in mortgage repossessions I found that CAB and professionals were easier to deal with as they removed the emotion from issues. So they might welcome the opportunity to support something that appears to work against them

Radiantsoul

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Also as a side note the problem with wanting 'street protests' or 'petitions' is only 1/5th of teh number of people are reading this blog than the John Lewis price promise blog - it just doesn't grab pubilc attention.

The problem with all social media/petition type protests is they become a sort of beauty contests for concepts or ideas.

ricbureau

I have an email and a phone call from a very reliable source confirming that there will be one year of further FIF funding. I cannot say anything else at this stage but if it confirms to be true what a great job we all have done!!!!

MSE_Martin

ricbureau wrote: »

I have an email and a phone call from a very reliable source confirming that there will be one year of further FIF funding. I cannot say anything else at this stage but if it confirms to be true what a great job we all have done!!!!

I strongly suspect you're right. I expect that by tomorrow we'll all be feeling better about this.

ricbureau

Martin,


FIF - Government announcement due on Saturday

11th February

Many of you have been waiting to hear whether there will be any funding for debt advice following the end of FIF on 31st March. I am pleased to tell you that BIS and HMT will be issuing a statement on Saturday.

Please check the BIS and HM Treasury website for details.

Cannot get any more info on this!

darkrev

keep me posted whatever you decide, for me , social networks and donations look good, but perhaps we should be emailing the right people too. they shouldnt just get to walk away from this. the high court challenge to the sell off of forestry and the high court challenge on cuts on building schools has also forced a re-think. we know the economy is struggling, we expect cuts. but this is nonsensical as more redundancies and more increases in bills and reductions in living wages mean people need help. If interest rates and mortgages rise too then it will get worse. information is key. glad your doing this and congrats on your teaching in schools victory. regards