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Parliamentary Hopeful warns against Closure of One-Stop Shops
February 4, 2010 9:00 PM
Congleton's would-be Liberal Democrat MP Dr Peter Hirst has condemned Cheshire East Council's proposals to close the Council's One-Stop Shops - which provide vital personal advice and information to local residents in Alsager, Holmes Chapel, Knutsford, Middlewich, Poynton and Wilmslow. The Tory-run Council wants residents to seek the advice and information they need from local libraries instead. Dr Hirst warns that a recession is not a good time for such "rationalisation," which would disproportionately hit vulnerable people.
Dr Hirst comments, "With no end to our economic woes in sight, increasing numbers of people are turning to advice centres because of financial and employment challenges. My concern is that present library staff are not equipped to perform this service without further training or manpower.
"I know from the budget consultation event that I attended, held in Congleton Town Hall on the 18th January, that this suggestion is to save money and resources. Not everyone is keen to visit their local library and they are not the same as the One-Stop Shops.
He continues, "I appreciate that money is going to be tight in the coming years. It is a false economy, however, to reduce information services just when more families are in need of them.
He concludes, "I hope this scheme if implemented is not a forerunner of cuts to other voluntary agencies such as the Citizens' Advice Bureaus."
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