WORRIED Citizens Advice Bureau bosses in Worcestershire say they fear for the service's very future - and have angrily accused decision makers of "taking it for granted" amid massive funding cuts.

Martyn Saunders, the chief executive officer of the Worcester branch, says too much money has been strangled from it across the whole of Worcestershire at the same time as welfare cuts, the so-called 'bedroom tax', increased foodbank use and the slashing of legal aid.

During a hard-hitting two-hour Q&A at Worcestershire County Council today, described as "very revealing" by politicians, it emerged:

- The Citizens Advice Bureau helped 60,000 people across the county in 2013/14, dealing with a total of 75,324 serious problems including debt advice, housing repossessions, court orders and benefit sanctions

- In Worcester alone, at its main offices in the Hopmarket, off Foregate Street walk-up queries have increased by 15 per cent in the last two years, with around 4,000 people now going there in person

- Mr Saunders said the general trends are up across the board, but despite that Worcestershire's total CAB funding has been slashed 40 per cent since 2009, to around £900,000 today

- He labelled the so-called 'bedroom tax', where people get their benefits cut for any spare bedrooms in social houses, "flawed", saying people have no properties to move to, and urged councillors to revisit funding for the CAB in general or its "core" advice service would be at risk

"The Citizens Advice Bureau won't be there unless there is more support," he said.

"We get taken for granted because we're open to all, but because we're so accessible nobody really supports that.

"We can lose it, and that can happen quite quickly - we could be there one day and gone the next.

"That won't happen in Worcester because it's well run but in the long term it could, don't take it for granted."

The CAB offers free advice to anyone in need and gets by with a small core of specialised staff and an army of volunteers, of which there are 80 alone in Worcester.

It gets cash from various sources including Government grants, the county council, which is currently offering £125,000 of the £900,000 total, and even the Big Lottery Fund.

The 60,000 people helped in 2013/14 included 29,650 unique clients, of which all had either partners, spouses or dependent children involved in their problems.

The breakdown includes 7,960 Worcester residents, 4,730 in Wychavon, 3,830 in Malvern, 5,680 in the Wyre Forest, 3,130 in Redditch and 2,670 in Bromsgrove, as well as 1,650 people living outside Worcestershire.

During the Q&A where Mr Saunders spelt out his concerns Councillor Lynne Duffy said "alarm bells were ringing" while Councillor Tom Wells admitted the service was "fragile".

"I understand the fragility you are in, everyone recognises this is an incredibly important thing," said Cllr Wells.

"I go to parish council meetings and they agonise over whether to give you £25, and that debate takes an hour to sort out."

Mr Saunders said: "There is a real issue - there has to be an acknowledgement that if you want this sort of basic service, someone has to pay for it.

"There is a risk of sustainability to services."

He also said the Worcester branch, which merged with the city's housing and benefits advice centre in 2009, used to get £260,000 towards offering specialised legal advice but now that particular fund stands at just £50,000.

In response to a legal aid question from Councillor Chris Bloore, he said: “The contract we have now is only for housing advice, for people at risk of repossession and the value of it is £50,000, so that’s 20 per cent of what the old total was.

“We were (previously) able to help hundreds of people around the county with very complex issues and offer them legal advice, but our ability to do that has nearly gone altogether, apart from as I say the people at risk of repossession.”

He added: “Without a doubt, that cut has had a direct impact on people’s ability to challenge the more complex areas and that’s created a significant gap in provision.

“If there’s no basic support to recruit and train volunteers that core advice service won’t exist, and I would say we’re not far away from this.”

On the bedroom tax, officially called the spare room subsidy, he said because of a lack of properties for social housing tenants to move to the benefit reductions had “just become a cut” for most people, adding: “I would say there’s a flaw.”

He also said he felt the increase in foodbank use was linked to that, telling the board: “What I think that says is, people have done all they can to pay their rent and they can’t afford to eat, that’s the consequence we see.”

He also said: “As councils have cut their funding it’s become difficult for the bureau to even retain its core service and the volunteers, as you’ve got to recruit them and train them.

“Our volunteers are marvellous but they do require some support from our paid staff.”

The debate took place during a meeting of the overview, scrutiny and performance board, a watchdog-style panel at County Hall.

Mr Saunders is in charge of both the CAB in Worcester and WHABAC, the city’s housing benefits advice service.

During the meeting he stressed that the city’s service is well run, but his concerns about it failing applied more generally across Worcestershire unless the cuts in funding were reversed.

He also insisted he had not intended to “come and pitch for money” but was prompted into voicing his concern by the councillors.

Councillor Richard Udall, who chairs the scrutiny board, said: “Our biggest concern is your future sustainability.

"I do believe, based on what you’ve said, that we could be facing a future crisis.”

The scrutiny board is now going to consider doing a more in-depth investigation into the CAB’s ability to survive.