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CAB history

Helping to solve problems since 1939

• 1935: The Government is considering the need for an information service linked to the fledgling social welfare service.
• 1938: The prospect of a world war looms so the National Council of Social Services (the forerunner of today's National Council of Voluntary Organisations) establishes a group to look at how to meet the needs of the civilian population in war time. "Citizens Advice Bureaux should be established throughout the country, particularly in the large cities and industrial areas where social disorganisation may be acute."
• 3 September 1939: War is declared.
• 4 September 1939: The first 200 bureaux open.
• From the start, volunteers run the service working from public buildings and private houses. Advisers deal with problems relating to the loss of ration books, homelessness and evacuation. They also help locate missing relatives and prisoners of war. Debt quickly becomes a key issue as income reduces due to call-ups.
• 1942: The number of bureaux peaks at 1,074 and one even operates out of a converted horse box that parks near bombed areas.
• 1950s: Despite the success of Citizens Advice Bureaux, funding from the Ministry of Health is cut after the war, and by 1953 the number of bureaux has halved. The service continues thanks to the support of charitable trusts such as the Nuffield Foundation, Carnegie Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
• 1957: The Rent Act results in a big increase in enquiries.
• 1960: Funding from the Government for the national body is restored.
• 1960s: A quarter of enquiries relate to housing and the number of bureaux has reduced from 1,074 to 416.
• 1965: The national total for enquiries reaches 1.25 million.
• 1970s: Consumer protection becomes a priority.
• 1973: A development grant from the Government is given to the national charity, the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB), to extend the network.
• 1980s: Two recessions mean a growth in poverty and enquiries rise in line with this.
• 1990s: Changes to the benefit system and work practices generate a large proportion of the enquiries bureaux receive.
• 1999: www.adviceguide.org.uk is launched, allowing people to access advice online 24 hours a day. The service celebrates its Diamond Jubilee and launches the first annual Advice Week.
• 2000s: Debt, housing and employment continue to be key problems that bureaux deal with, particularly in relation to asylum issues.
• 2002: The service receives a £20 million grant from the Government's Capital Modernisation Fund to provide IT infrastructure to roll out e-government services to CAB clients.
• 2003: Adviceguide content is made available in Welsh, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu and visits continue to increase, extending access to CAB advice to those who cannot use bureaux.
• 2003: The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux changes its name to Citizens Advice and, in Wales, to Citizens Advice Cymru (Cyngor ar Bopeth Cymru).
• 2003: Citizens Advice Bureaux become the first in the advice sector to audit the quality of their advice.
• 2003: An independently commissioned review of the service by the Office for Public Management concludes that "the CAB service provides excellent value in return for the public funding it receives. It makes a significant contribution to individuals and communities, as well as to the process of policy-making and service delivery. Its holistic approach, national coverage and independence are to be cherished.”
• 2004: After a ten year campaign using evidence from CAB clients, the Government added an amendment to the Housing Bill to include a tenancy deposit protection scheme.
• 4 September 2009: The Citizens Advice service celebrates its 70th birthday.
• 2009/10: There are 394 Citizens Advice Bureaux across England and Wales. Each one is an independent registered charity helping people to resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free advice and information, and by influencing policymakers. The network relies on 21,500 trained volunteers to keep the service running, and provides advice from 3,500 locations (including community outreach venues) as well as by phone, in people's homes and via the internet. Visits to www.adviceguide.org.uk , our self help website, rise to 12.7 million.

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