Drew Hendry praises work of Nairn CAB

.@drewhendrysnp praises @NairnCAB work in supporting people affected by UK Gov welfare reforms http://t.co/rfDYYHwRbk pic.twitter.com/LbknpybzoT

— Drew Hendry MP (@DrewHendryMP) September 3, 2015

Drew states on his website:

"Nairn CAB provides free, confidential and independent advice to everyone who needs it. The CAB aims to ensure individuals do not suffer through a lack of knowledge of their rights and responsibilities, lack of knowledge of the services available to them or through an inability to express their needs effectively.

Drew Hendry MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, commenting on a recent visit, said:

“As always I am impressed by the invaluable work CAB carry out in the community and we have an excellent example of this right here in Nairn. Gill and her team are, day in day out, dealing with a wide spectrum of issues and provide vital support to those worst affected by welfare cuts.

“It is unsurprising, given the UK Government’s punitive austerity agenda, that one of the biggest challenges we face in this constituency is “in work” poverty. Almost 4,000 in-work families in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey alone will be worse off as a result of changes to tax credits, never mind the thousands of people going hungry because of benefit sanctions that in many cases have been applied through no fault of their own.

“For over 75 years CAB teams across Scotland have provided a lifeline service to those most in need and do it with compassion, professionalism and humility. These services have never been more crucial than now, as we are forced to balance a low wage economy with ever increasing costs associated with rural living, such as transport and the inequity in electricity tariffs.

“I was glad of the opportunity to meet with Gill and volunteers to discuss these challenges and look forward to working closely with them in the future to ensure we do everything we can to support constituents.”

Gill MacLean, Manager of Nairn CAB added: “We appreciated Drew taking the time to meet with us to learn about our experience of the issues which face people in and around Nairn. Low pay, seasonal work, zero hours contracts, expensive public transport and the lack of affordable housing means “in work” poverty is on the increase.” "