BOSSES of Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABs) in Gwent breathed a sigh of relief yesterday after the government confirmed funding for a “vital” debt advice service.

UK government cash for specialist debt advice was due to end in March and CABs across Gwent were preparing to make some of their specialist advisors redundant.

But just as centres were getting ready to turn away clients, the government provided a last minute reprieve, meaning both jobs and services can be retained.

However the new cash - £27 million nationally - will only last until March 2012, and the heads of Gwent’s CABs are still wary about what will happen beyond that date.

CABs across Britain offer impartial, free, face-to-face support to people with complex debt problems, such as dealing with bailiffs or agreeing repayment schedules.

Directors of Gwent CABs told the Argus that they help around 1,800 people a year, assisting with £8 million in debts in just Newport alone during 2009/10.

They say the service is vital, with people otherwise pushed into the hands of loan sharks or commercial debt management firms.

Den Foley, director of Newport CAB, faced having to make three people redundant if his funding of £110,000 was not reinstated.

“We were desperately worried and obviously its been very hard on the affected staff and their families,” he said.

But he added: “We need to know what's going to happen next year, otherwise we will be in the same situation that we were in.”

Sheila Hendrickson-Brown, director of Torfaen CAB which also provides services in Monmouthshire, faced losing £148,000 in funding and making three debt advisors and two administrators redundant.

She said they were going to have to stop seeing clients this week before the announcement: “I am hugely relieved. It does seem to be a step in the right direction as far as common sense is concerned.”

A total of six debt advisors at Caerphilly CAB, which also has offices in Blaenau Gwent and stood to lose £200,000 a year, faced redundancy before the announcement was made.