Our Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS), launched in September
2003, received an extension in funding until March 2006. Funded by the Department of Health and
covering six health regions in England, ICAS helped over 4,000 people with concerns about NHS services
and treatments in just six months. Our Citizens Connect IT programme
now includes 95 per cent of Citizens Advice Bureaux. This puts the service firmly on the map to
help increase access to e-government services to members of the public. In
March 2004, Citizens Advice International was launched. All member organisations share the same
charitable principles of promoting free and independent advice, upheld by the Citizens Advice service
for 65 years. In 2003, working with Shelter, we intensified our
ten year campaign to protect the rental deposits which tenants have to pay over to private landlords.
The Housing Minister’s announcement in May 2004 that the Government would include such a measure
in the Housing Bill was therefore a major achievement, leading, we hope, to new legislation in 2005. Over
70 bureaux are now delivering financial education initiatives to adults and young people in the heart
of their communities. These include nine new bureau flagship projects, in partnership with Prudential,
that deliver face-to-face adult financial literacy education. A new partnership with the Department
of Work and Pensions will support 20 bureau initiatives aimed to help people understand their banking
options. | The number of health settings in which we give outreach advice increased by 23 per cent. 43 per cent of bureaux are able to give advice in more than four languages. 
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