We write to express our concern about the misleading - in fact, downright untruthful - remarks made by Councillor Don Turner at the recent meeting of Brighton and Hove City Council concerning the the forthcoming closure of the Hove Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB).

Coun Turner stated the decision to consolidate in Brighton or Hove was "entirely a mat-ter for the CAB". This is completely untrue.

We have been seeking appropriate premises in which to consolidate our operation for some time and neither our existing office in Hove nor the existing office in Brighton is suitable. Until we had located suitable premises, we would have preferred to have continued to deliver our much needed services from both our existing offices.

The council has seen fit to reduce our funding by more than one-third, which simply means we can no longer afford to keep both offices open. Consolidation on to the Hove site was not an option because it is far too small. At the thirteenth hour, the council offered us a bit more space at Hove Town Hall but it was still unworkable.

Contrary to what Coun Turner stated, we have not "assured the council we would continue to provide an outreach service in Hove". We said it is a high priority for us to try to maintain a presence in Hove and we will seek to find ways within our very limited budget to do this. Residents of Hove and Portslade need be under no illusions, however, but that the lack of a CAB service in that area is a matter to be laid entirely at the feet of the council. It is the underfunding of our service, staffed mainly by volunteers who give of their time freely to help others, that is solely

to blame for our withdrawal from Hove. The council's decision means we will not be able to help an estimated 3,000 clients a year who desperately need our services.

Since the council's decision, we have been trying to work with the council to limit the damage its short-sighted action will cause. We have suggested the space we vacate at Hove could become a multi-agency facility under the banner of the Community Legal Services. We could participate and contribute to this. We have striven to work with the council and not be confrontational, despite the many voices of protest raised against the council's highly flawed grant-making process.

We do not feel we can allow Coun Turner's inaccurate statement to go unchallenged, however, and we believe he has abused his position as lead councillor to present a distorted view of why we have been forced to close our Hove office. We therefore call on Coun Turner to retract the misleading comments he made at last week's council meeting and apologise publicly for them.

Norman Bennett and Martin Groombridge, Chair of Management Committee

-Vice-Chair of Management Committee, Brighton and Hove Citizens' Advice Bureau