CHANGES to the way welfare advice is given in Keighley have been outlined to local councillors.

Keighley Area Committee were this month told that the Citizens Advice Bureau had won the contract for the whole of Airedale.

The CAB, based at Central Hall in Keighley, will advise the public on benefits, debt, immigration, housing, employment and community care.

Bradford Council last year launched a major shake-up of the district’s advice services in advance of the planned £1 million cut to its annual £3.7 million budget.

The council previously funded 17 organisations to provide various kinds of advice, leading to duplication, but now just one organisation covers most issues in each constituency.

Another organisation, Equality Together, provides advice across the district on issues relating to disability, older people and cancer.

The organisations are expected to streamline their services over the next four years, introducing triage systems, reducing waiting times, resolving simple queries quicker, and introducing new ways of delivering advice, such as via instant messaging and web chat.