City's Citizens Advice chief resigns amid closures row

Published on Friday 24 October 2008 10:17

THE chief executive of Edinburgh's Citizens Advice Bureaux has resigned amid protest at plans to close four of the city's five offices.

Martin Ashing said he regretted not being able to get his staff involved in the review process, which last month concluded there should be money saving cutbacks, but defended his decision over the closures.

In a letter to colleagues, he said: "I wish you all the luck in the future and hope that the current initiatives lead to positive things for Citizens Advice Edinburgh."

As reported in the News last month, management planned to scrap four offices – Pilton, Leith, Portobello and Fountainbridge – to centralise services at the Dundas Street bureau. More than 80 volunteers, staff, politicians and councillors launched a scathing attack on Mr Ashing and his team, accusing them of failing to outline how a newly restructured service would run.

At the time, Edinburgh West MSP Margaret Smith said she was willing to help find a solution to the cash flow problem, which Citizens Advice blamed on a lack of council funding. She said: "It was clear from the volunteers' comments, they hadn't been consulted by the board and didn't want local offices to close."

As a result, plans were put on hold and remain so, while management undertakes a consultation period, despite Mr Ashing's imminent departure.

He said: "A lot of work went into reviewing the organisation and arriving at the conclusions that I did. We should not have been surprised that these were the same conclusions reached several times by previous management committees."

A spokeswoman for Citizens Advice today said the organisation was saddened over the resignation and continued to review the best way to deliver services.