A welfare benefits team is urging the council to oppose council budget cuts as they say the impact would cause “immense distress” to communities.

Members of Harrow’s Association for Disabled People (HAD), who work  to promote and bring about inclusion and equality for all disabled people in all areas of life, say if the proposed £17m cuts are approved, the worst effect will be on their welfare benefits team.

The service helps around 1,000 clients a year and generates more than £1,000,000 annually in welfare benefits for disabled people living in Harrow.

The team at the Wealdstone centre in High Street, Wealdstone,  is currently split into two teams with two part time experts, one volunteer and Gladys Jones, MBE and founder member of HAD.

The team have now launched a petition to oppose cuts to the benefits team, as they demand the council continue paying the £27,000 needed by the service to survive.

A decision on the cuts to HAD will be made during a Harrow Council cabinet meeting on Thursday January 19.  

READ MORE: Harrow Council announces more than £9m for 'essential services' in new 2017-18 draft budget

A mental health charity fears its users will have nowhere to go if £25,000 of funding will be cut.

Protesters' anger over voluntary sector cuts labelled a 'passionate plea' from Harrow Council Leader

A protester caused furore at the Civic Centre as he repeatedly heckled councillors to fight against the cuts to voluntary sectors in Harrow. 

However, Nigel Long, the CEO of Harrow Association of Disabled People, wrote a letter to Harrow Council leader Sachin Shah.

He said: "I believe there are better and more innovative ways to minimise the damage of Government cuts. It is wrong to focus cuts on the most vulnerable disabled people in the community. 

"The service is run very efficiently by HAD by combining experts with volunteers. Closure of the service would cause immense distress to the communities that they serve."

In December last year, Harrow council announced its draft budget for 2017-2018, which included spending more than £9m in new and improved street lights, more money on services to helping the people of Harrow.

However, the draft also mentioned £17m of budget cutbacks.

Harrow Council leader Cllr Sachin Shah apologised for making the cuts and understood that people would be upset.

Cllr Shah said: “Difficult decisions had to be made, and cuts to the voluntary sector was one of them.

“Our first priority is looking after people in Harrow. We thought what more could we do for charities in Harrow, and we came up with the idea of crowdfunding, where a project can raise amounts of money from online or in the community."

Visit the website to sign the petition and for more information on the service.