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Outrage at threat to Chinatown legal service
CHINATOWN was “outraged” this week after learning that funding may not be renewed for a crucial legal advice centre that has operated for 25 years.
More than 1,000 people signed a petition demanding the Central London Law Centre is saved.
The centre offers free employment and housing advice to 80,000 Chinese people from its Whitcomb Street headquarters in the heart of Chinatown.
London Councils, a London-wide think-tank that also funds a number of services across the capital, wants to cut its four-year funding package, worth more than £200,000.
Jabez Lam, co-ordinator of the Chinese Immigration Concern Committee, said he was “surprised and aggrieved” about the decision.
He said: “Central London Law Centre is a long-established and well-respected service to London’s Chinese.
“Continued changes to immigration rules make the Chinese community feel under attack and it is more important now than ever that free professional legal advice is available.”
Solicitor Ginny Halley, one of six staff members threatened with redundancy at the centre, said: “I just hope the good sense of the councillors will prevail and funding will not be cut. There appears to be no clear reason why officers consider this highly respected service is no longer a priority.”
A spokesman for London Councils compared its funding package to a West End show that was coming to the end of its run.
He said: “Let it be clear that we are not cutting funding. The funding was only available in four years blocks and that has come to an end.”
An appeal from the law centre will be heard by councillors at London Councils’ grants committee meeting on Tuesday. |
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