COUNCILLORS have approved an ‘eleventh hour’ deal to keep Otley Citizens Advice Bureau going.

The agreement, hailed by Otley CAB volunteers, means some advice services will continue to be provided in the town after all.

The Otley bureau was set to close at the end of March, following a city-wide reorganisation by Leeds CAB.

But negotiations between Otley Town Council and the group, as revealed last week, have led to a new ‘annual subsidy’ arrangement being agreed.

Council leader Councillor John Eveleigh (Lab, Ashfield) told Monday’s Policy and Resources meeting: “We’re clearly at the eleventh hour.

“The bureau’s services were due to close at the end of this month but I think we’ve managed to achieve a significant deal which retains services but looks different enough for the management of the CAB to say ‘what’s being agreed for Otley is different’.

“What we’re asking for is that we release £14,158 from the town council budget for this year.

“Clearly, any service of this nature doesn’t want to be living hand-to-mouth, hence we’re suggesting a three-year deal.

“The service is based in Otley but serves a wider area, so it’s right that we should be asking in the future for some of those areas to contribute as well.

“But for this year I think we should take the hit to give that guarantee to the service.

“Given the high quality of volunteers that the Otley bureau has, it was really unthinkable that we should lose that great resource.”

He added that future contributions could be sought from bodies like the parish councils for Bramhope and Pool-in-Wharfedale and the Outer North West Community Committee.

The proposal received unanimous support, with Councillor Jim Spencer (Lib Dem, West Chevin) declaring: “We’re in a much better position than we ever thought we would be – the town council needs to pat itself on the back.”

He also called for future negotiations to see if the range of services under the new agreement – set for two days a week, and including specialist debt and pension advice – could be expanded.

Councillor Colin Campbell (Lib Dem, Prince Henry) also highlighted the value of the ‘drop-in’ facility which has been available up to now.

Two Otley CAB supporters attended the meeting to express their thanks.

They also acknowledged the efforts councillors Campbell and Sandy Lay had made at city council level to keep the pressure up.