As the recession continues to bite, Matthew visited Hendon Citizen’s Advice Bureau to hear for himself what problems local people are facing. As would be expected, the issues of debt, housing and unemployment were raised by several people. 

In the last year alone, 1,491 people contacted the office in Hendon seeking assistance. Sitting in on two interviews with clients, Matthew listened to the difficulties people have in navigating the welfare system and in accessing housing benefit. 

Matthew said, “The CAB in Hendon is always busy but the recession is causing additional work for staff. The value of the service provided is that it contributes towards other local providers, such as the Job Centre Plus, Housing Benefit and even the Immigration Service. These are services that need to develop protocols so that they work together, rather than duplicating effort in order to give people the right assistance when they need it.”

Matthew pictured in the interview room at the Hendon CAB office

4th February 2010