The Marlborough Community Law Centre has received funding for the new financial year, but will probably have to dig into its cash reserves to cover all its operating costs.
Centre manager Gordon Strang said he had been worried the centre would not receive as much money for the financial year beginning July as it had in the past.
However, the Legal Services Agency had confirmed the Blenheim centre would receive about $300,000, the same amount it received last year.
While this was good news, it did not take into account increased operating costs and the centre might have to use cash reserves to cover all its costs, Mr Strang said.
The centre had just hired two qualified lawyers to oversee case work for the 2500 people it served annually and there was a continual need to keep up to date with technology and the law, he said.
Mr Strang said the centre needed to spend money on training staff and buying more resources.
"What we don't want is stagnation. We can't afford that because the law is changing all the time," he said.
He expected requests for advice about the new police safety orders, which allow police to remove the abusive party in a domestic relationship from a house for up to five days.
People served with a notice by police might not know what they could do about it, he said.
"There's always a need to change. As society changes, the law changes and we have to as well."
The Legal Services Agency funds community law centres from interest earned from the money put in lawyers' trust accounts after sales of assets such as houses.
A fall in the number of houses sold last year reduced the amount of money it had to distribute.
Mr Strang said about $11 million was needed to run community law centres around the country, but last year the interest from housing sales provided only 30 per cent of that, and the government paid the rest.
The Legal Services Agency provides legal aid and assistance to people who cannot afford lawyers.
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