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Influencing policy and developing partnerships

Citizens Advice uses evidence from clients to inform policy makers and service providers about how their policies impact on people. During 2007/08:

• Our evidence on mortgages and problems with secure loans influenced policies for low income home owners.
• We persuaded the Government to write off tax debts owed by low income pensioners.
• Following our lobbying on access to NHS dentistry the Government increased funding by 11 per cent.

We obtained funding to improve communications between the credit industry and the advice sector and influenced Ofgem’s standards on how fuel companies handle complaints.

Last year we stated that we would promote and lead the development of the work of the Citizens Advice service with migrant workers. During 2007/08 we have worked to provide information to migrant workers in conjunction with the TUC.

Within our strategy we committed to maintaining and developing funding partnerships which broaden the reach of the Citizens Advice service to ‘hard to reach’ groups. Further developments include:

• A partnership with Revolving Doors working with people with mental health problems caught up in the criminal justice system. We also secured funding from the Carnegie Foundation to fund bureaux in the south east to work with Gypsies and Travellers.

• We have renewed our partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support. Macmillan has provided more than £4 million over five years to bureaux and this partnership continues to grow.

• The National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS) is a partnership between Shelter and Citizens Advice funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The service aims to minimise housing problems and prevent homelessness occurring by providing timely and effective advice, and ensuring good practice is developed by local authorities.

As part of this project a pilot involved 16 bureaux recording the outcomes of housing advice. Eighty eight per cent of clients using the pilot reported that the advice had made a positive difference.

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