"... As local firms also struggle we can expect to see employee volunteering schemes abandoned, less pro bono support from professional firms and fewer corporate donations. Local charities providing frontline advice services are already under severe pressure..."

"... Despite our protestations, advice services are not explicitly prioritised in local area service agreements so the fear is that the response of local authorities to the credit crunch will indirectly wipe out funding to adult advice services and mean the most vulnerable will have no way to enforce their rights..."

"... In these desperate times, debt advice and community legal advice services have never been more vital or more in demand..."