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Citizens Advice impact report

Citizens Advice impact report cover

The last year has been both a challenging and exciting one for us, and I have felt extremely proud to see the way we have responded as a service.

People have been through difficult times, experiencing rising costs of living coupled with problematic changes to the benefits system and increasing unemployment.

But in the face of public spending cuts, the sheer dedication of our staff, volunteers, partners, supporters and funders made it possible to help the same number we did the previous year – 2.1 million. With a workforce comprised primarily of volunteers, Citizens Advice Bureaux are run by the community and for the community, and everyone has rallied.

Some public spending cuts took immediate effect. Others present longer term uncertainty; the proposed legal aid cuts and the changes to the way face-to-face debt advice is funded. We have been fighting hard to protect access to free advice using every tool at our disposal. We have secured extensive media coverage as well as parliamentary debates, and have been at the forefront of campaigning coalitions.

Every year millions of people trust us to stand up for them or to help them stand up for themselves. And because the public trusts us, the Government trusts us too. We were delighted when the Government announced its intention to transfer responsibility for consumer advice and information, education and advocacy to the Citizens Advice service. Bringing these functions together in one place and integrating them into our existing work would give consumers greater protection and empower them to get the best deals.

We are there with advice ‘after the event’ – and always will be – but a growing range of innovative programmes are helping hundreds of thousands to avoid pitfalls, deal with problems themselves and share their knowledge with others. The following pages give a brief insight into what we have achieved for our clients, communities and wider society during 2010/11. Thank you for playing your part in making it possible.

Gillian Guy
Chief Executive, Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice service impact report (Adobe Acrobat Document 1.4mb)

Cyngor ar Bopeth Adroddiad effaith (Adobe Acrobat Document 0.89mb)

Citizens Advice