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[our aims] [foreward by the chair] [the national picture] [an overview of thurrock citizens advice bureau]
[staff & volunteers 2007/2008] [volunteering and the citizens advice] [the schedule]
[debt advice] [welfare benefits and tax credits advice] [advice on housing issues] [advice on employment issues]
Annual Report 2007/2008:
The National Picture
History of the Citizens Advice Service
When the prospect of a world war loomed, the National Council of Social Services (the forerunner of today's National Council of Voluntary Organisations) established a group to look at how to meet the needs of the civilian population in war-time.
It was agreed that Citizens Advice Bureaux should be established throughout the country, particularly in the large cities and industrial areas where social disorganisation may be acute. On 4 September 1939, the day after the declaration of war, two hundred bureaux were opened.
From the start, volunteers, who worked from public buildings and private houses, ran the service. Advisers dealt with problems relating to the loss of ration books, homelessness and evacuation. They also helped locate missing relatives and prisoners of war. At its peak, there were more than a thousand bureaux, although this was almost halved when Ministry of Health funding was cut after the war. It wasn't until 1960 that Government restored funding to the national body.
The Modern Citizens Advice Service
The Citizens Advice service provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. It values diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination.
The Twin Aims of the Citizens Advice Service are:
- To provide the advice people need for the problems they face
- To improve the policies and practices that affect people's lives.
The Citizens Advice service brand is among the strongest in the third sector; 95% of people have heard of Citizens Advice bureaux1. In recent research into public perceptions of major charities, the Citizens Advice service was ranked first on seven ideal attributes. The service was regarded as being the most honest, helpful, accountable, approachable, effective, informative and fair.2
The Citizens Advice service comprises Citizens Advice (the membership organisation) and 430 members of the Citizens Advice bureaux network.3 Member bureaux are each individual legal entities and registered charities. The rights and responsibilities of Citizens Advice and the bureaux are set out in the Citizens Advice Compact.
Each member bureau delivers its services from one or more physical locations. In England and Wales, there are 670 main bureaux premises, 1,800 regular outreaches and 800 irregular outreaches: at total of about 3,200 locations.3
Total bureaux funding in 2006/07 exceeded £140m. About half of bureaux funding came from Local Government (£66.5m). The other significant funders of bureaux were the Legal Services Commission (£30m), the Department of Business and Regulatory Reform via the Financial Inclusion Fund (£8m) and the Big Lottery Fund (£7m).
Bureaux have a combined workforce of 27,000 people: 16,700 volunteers, 6,200 paid staff and 4,300 trustees. Advice is delivered by 15,000 advisers of which 12,500 are volunteers.3
Who seeks advice from bureaux?
In 2007/08, bureaux dealt with some 1.5m new clients, presenting more than 5m issues. Clients approach bureaux from all sections of the community. In 2006/07, 56% of clients were female, 13% were from BME groups and at least 17% were disabled.3
Benefits and debt problems are the main reasons people seek advice from a Citizens Advice Bureau, but hundreds of thousands of clients also present problems on a wide range of other issues including housing, employment, legal and discrimination. Bureaux provide a holistic service, so clients typically receive advice on more than one issue (averaging 2.7 issues per client) and this advice often spans more than one category, such as advice on debt, benefits and consumer rights.4
In addition to the services offered by bureaux, Citizens Advice delivers the award-winning Adviceguide website, which provides free round-the-clock access to information on their rights. In 2006/07 Adviceguide received more than 6.2m visits.
1 Bureaux Outcomes, MORI, 2007. Available at (internal only):
http://www.cablink.org.uk/index/abouttheservice/publications/outcomes_research/highlights_mori_research_feb2005.htm
2 Brand Attributes Research, NfPSynergy, 2007. Available at (internal only):
http://www.cablink.org.uk/index/abouttheservice/publications/comms_nfp_synergy_april2007.htm
3 Bureau Characteristics Analysis 2006/07, Citizens Advice, 2007. Available at (internal only):
http://www.cablink.org.uk/bureau_characteristics_analysis_2006-11.pdf
4 Analysis of Advice Issues and Client Profile: England and Wales, Citizens Advice, 2007. Available at (internal only):
http://www.cablink.org.uk/analysis_of_advice_issues_2006-07.pdf
Thurrock CAB Annual Report 2007/2008
 Download the full annual report 2007/2008 (PDF 274kB)
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