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the
News from across the Citizens Advice service
Summer
2010
Sign up for advice
Hard times,
strong society
Our 70th anniversary debate
Local campaigns
Bureaux make a difference

welcome
Contents
News and events 3
Stakeholder debate 4-5
Partnership working 6-7
Across the service 8-9
Financial inclusion 10-11
Did you know 12
Editorial
The Citizen is a quarterly
newsletter bringing you all
the news from the Citizens
Advice service.
A bilingual version (Welsh /
English), called Cyngor, will
be available online at
citizensadvice.org.uk
Produced by Citizens Advice
Myddelton House
115–123 Pentonville Road
London N1 9LZ
Tel: 020 7833 2181
adviceguide.org.uk
citizensadvice.org.uk
Foreword
Welcome to the summer issue of The Citizen.
Hard times, strong society was the title of a high
level debate, organised by Citizens Advice in the
run up to the General Election. Hosted as part of
our 70th celebrations, the event was a great success
and you can read about it on pages four and five.
This summer issue focuses on some of the excellent
campaign work that bureaux have been doing to
challenge unfair practices and improve the lives of
the millions of people who need us most.
The extended funding for our award winning
partnership with The Royal British Legion, The Royal
Air Force Benevolent Fund and Citizens Advice
Northern Ireland means we can continue to help
the men and women who have served their country,
live their lives free from financial distress.
As well as finding out more about our innovative
partnership with the Association of British Credit
Unions to tackle financial exclusion, you can read
about our volunteers’ reception, held at St James’s
Palace, London.
Citizens Advice has launched its first ever web
pages dedicated to giving advice in British Sign
Language. Rosanna Mazzocchio (front cover),
Marcella Stratton and Ernesto del Carpio are the
profoundly deaf CAB volunteers who feature in the
videos.
I hope you enjoy this edition.
John Gladwin
Chair, Citizens Advice
For more copies of The Citizen or to receive an e-version of this newsletter,
please send your contact details to thecitizen@citizensadvice.org.uk
Do you have a Citizens Advice story you would like to share Send
your news stories to Sally Littlecott at thecitizen@citizensadvice.org.uk
2 the Citizen summer 2010

news
Volunteers meet HRH The Princess Royal at St James’s Palace
Volunteer reception
As part of our 70th anniversary celebrations, a
Volunteers’ Reception was held at St James’s Palace,
London. HRH The Princess Royal, David Harker
and John Gladwin hosted the event, to publicly
acknowledge and thank the many thousands of
volunteers who have given their time freely over the
past 70 years.
In total, 100 volunteers were selected at random to
represent the 21,500 volunteers the Citizens Advice
service depends on to provide accessible, quality
driven advice in 3,500 locations across England
and Wales. Put simply, without our volunteers the
service would not be able to respond to the needs
and demands of the millions of people who contact
us every year.
In her opening address, HRH The Princess Royal
highlighted the impact that volunteering has on
the health of a community; raising aspirations,
encouraging community participation and leading
to strong, active and empowered communities.
“Without you, the service would never
have survived to be the excellent, valued
organisation it is today.”
HRH The Princess Royal, Patron of Citizens
Advice
the Citizen summer 2010 3

stakeholder debate
Hard times,
strong society
As part of our 70th anniversary
celebrations, and in the run-up to
the General Election, Citizens Advice
gathered leading players in public
policy to tackle the key political issues facing
our clients during an evening debate at the QE2
Conference Centre in Westminster.
The prestigious panel chaired by BBC News
chief political correspondent, Laura Kuenssberg,
included:
• Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, the then Secretary of
State for Work and Pensions
• Francis Maude MP, the then Shadow Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Vince Cable MP, the then Deputy Leader and
Shadow Chancellor, Liberal Democrats
• Richard Reeves, Director of Demos
• Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee.
The debate kicked off with an assessment of what
impact the recession has had on Citizens Advice
clients. Yvette Cooper noted that unemployment
had been lower than predicted, thanks to
government support and employers making hard
decisions. Francis Maude cautioned that although
still in work, many people were now working on
short term contracts and many others had taken
significant cuts in pay. Polly Toynbee drew the
audience’s attention to the inequality of the impact
of the recession, highlighting how it is often the
same people who get hit time and again. This
prompted Vince Cable to express unease about
what will happen once temporary government
protections are removed later in the year.
The discussion moved on to what new roles the
recession had created for organisations like Citizens
Advice. Yvette Cooper argued that the voluntary
sector’s role needs to expand to take advantage
of the different skills and experience it brings.
There was concern from Richard Reeves that
government’s insistence on central state control
could make this difficult.
Francis Maude was determined that these
difficulties must be overcome, stating the voluntary
sector has a big part to play in providing essential
frontline services. He added that in a healthy
economy, services are provided by a mix of public,
private and voluntary sector organisations selected
for their ability to do the job and their readiness to
be appraised on cost, quality and value.
Talk of mixed service provision naturally raised the
question of accountability. If the government is
to engage the voluntary sector in providing more
and more public services, who can the tax payer
hold to account if it fails Francis Maude was clear
that accountability is not the preserve of national
government:
“That’s where the accountability of front
line services should be – with people, service
users not central government.”
4 the Citizen summer 2010

stakeholder debate
“It’s very hard to find government ministers who wouldn’t actually want to find
organisations like Citizens Advice and others doing more, to be bigger and to be even
more effective precisely because they are providing such a vital service.”
Richard Reeves, Director, Demos
Laura Kuenssberg Richard Reeves Yvette Cooper Vince Cable Francis Maude Polly Toynbee
On the subject of whether spending on such
services should be cut, Yvette Cooper was clear
that frontline services needed to be protected
and sustained for the future. Francis Maude went
further and warned against soft-target cuts such as
ending grants to voluntary organisations, instead
advocating for efficiency savings.
When asked specifically about CAB funding in light
of spending cuts, the panel agreed that continued
funding of the Citizens Advice service is essential.
Yvette Cooper insisted that what the service does
with its thousands of volunteers could not be
replicated, and explained:
“It’s that added value... that helps prevent
a lot of problems, by giving people advice
early that ultimately saves money later on.”
Vince Cable proposed that areas of advice with
identifiable unmet need could be funded by the
relevant industries; the finance industry funding
the provision of financial advice, for example.
Francis Maude agreed, recognising that the finance
industry benefits from a better-advised customer
base.
Months ahead of the recent government
announcement to engage more citizens in the
Comprehensive Spending Review, the panel was
in favour of engaging citizens in managing any
cutbacks. Vince Cable argued the importance of
canvassing opinion across the country in the same
way that Canada had done.
Richard Reeves pointed out that, for public
involvement to be genuine, a certain level of trust
is required, which Francis Maude suggested could
be achieved through greater transparency. He
highlighted, as a starting point, the Conservative
commitment to publishing details of public
spending which exceeds £25,000.
The question of public trust was also touched on
in relation to frontline services. When the role of
new technology was discussed, Vince Cable was
clear that we need to be innovative in its use, but
what people in financial difficulty want most is
face-to-face human contact. Given that the Citizens
Advice service has three times as many face-to-face
contacts with clients as it does phone or written
contacts, it is ideally placed to deliver exactly that.
the Citizen summer 2010 5

partnership working
Combating money
problems
“I cannot compliment you enough on a
personal level for helping me through what
was a most difficult and stressful period of
my life – thank you.”
Client, Cornwall CAB
The Benefits and Money Advice Service
(BMAS) is celebrating being awarded the
Best Partnership award from the Institute
of Money Advisers (IMA).
Delivered as part of The Royal British Legion’s Poppy
Support scheme, BMAS is a partnership between
Citizens Advice, the Legion, the Royal Air Force
Benevolent Fund (RAFBF) and Citizens Advice
Northern Ireland. It provides specialist benefits and
money advice in bureaux for existing and former
servicemen and women and their dependants.
Funded by the Legion and RAFBF, there are 43
full-time equivalent caseworkers based in 38
bureaux across the country.
The award winning project was set up in October
2007 and has, so far, helped 12,000 people with
financial outcomes worth over £32.7 million.
During 2009/10, clients were helped to claim nearly
£4.7 million in unclaimed benefits.
Carlisle CAB helped a former soldier who had
retired due to ill health claim disability and carer
benefits worth over £12,000 a year.
Richmondshire CAB assisted a serving soldier, who
is divorced with a child and is four months
pregnant, claim tax credits and child benefit of over
£8,000 per year.
During the same period, debts worth £13.7 million
were written off and £1.8 million other gains,
including grants from the Legion’s Poppy Funds
scheme. As well as grants, clients can benefit from a
wide range of other help from the Poppy Support
scheme, including short and long-term care, travel,
and household repairs to help elderly veterans
remain independent in their own homes.
Middlesbrough CAB helped a 35 year old client
with multiple debts of over £74,000. Claiming
benefits increased their income by £6,760 per year,
meaning his partner could give up her part-time job
to care for their disabled son. Successfully applying
for bankruptcy gave the client a fresh start and
financial stability.
North Liverpool CAB helped a 74 year old client in
poor health and with multiple debts totalling nearly
£11,000. As well as successfully applying for a debt
relief order which wrote the debts off, the adviser
helped him with benefit claims increasing his annual
income by £7,000 per year plus £2,300 in housing
and council tax benefit.
It’s not just about maximising incomes and
negotiating with creditors, BMAS caseworkers work
closely with other organisations such as Age UK,
Shelter and Combat Stress, to ensure a specialist
and holistic service is provided: Leatherhead and
Dorking CAB helped a client who had been
diagnosed with mesothelioma, as a result of being
exposed to asbestos, claim compensation of
£11,505 as well as helping him with a claim for
industrial injuries disablement benefit.
A client suffering with dementia had recently signed
up to a credit agreement to purchase solar panels
for his property, at a cost of £6,000. Cornwall CAB
successfully terminated the contract due to the
client’s lack of mental capacity and got his deposit of
£1,500 returned to him.
During 2009/10 the average number of issues
BMAS advisers helped each client with was 5.1,
compared to 3.4 for the Citizens Advice service
overall. The complexity of cases means over four
times as many contacts needed to be made with
third parties to resolve clients’ problems, in
comparison to the service as a whole.
6 the Citizen summer 2010

partnership working
Caseworkers at Richmondshire CAB Award-winning Paul Parkin Collecting the IMA award
This complexity is demonstrated by Plymouth CAB
where 22 separate letters have been written on
behalf of a client with post traumatic stress disorder
covering issues which included benefits, debt and
housing issues.
As well as referrals, bureaux have been proactive in
establishing good relations with local service bases
to raise awareness of the project. Rushmoor CAB
runs a successful clinic at Pirbright barracks and
hopes to extend the service to other local bases. A
talk to soldiers due to be medically discharged has
increased the numbers seeking advice on benefits.
Exeter CAB has recently resumed its monthly clinic
at the Commando Training Centre for Royal
Marines at Lympstone which includes fortnightly
presentations of the project to new recruits.
West Oxfordshire CAB successfully convinced
local service bases and garrisons that financial
capability sessions should be an integral part of their
induction process. These preventative sessions,
covering things like budgeting and managing your
finances, have had very positive responses and will
hopefully mean that participants are less likely to
become the debt clients of the future.
Nominated by local people, Sleaford CAB was
delighted to win the customer service award for its
professional and effective service. Paul Parkin, one
of the BMAS caseworkers, was singled out for
particular praise for his customer care and attention.
As part of the project, Adviceguide has launched
new pages for serving members of the Armed
Forces and their families on finances, health,
pensions and housing at:
www.adviceguide.org.uk
“I did not know where to turn as no one else
would deal with my issues.”
Client, Richmondshire CAB
“After a lot of worry about finances, just
after the first meeting, a weight was taken
off our shoulders.”
Client, Scarborough CAB
> CASE STUDIES
Discharged from the Royal Navy on medical
grounds, the client, in his 30s, was being
evicted as his landlord was selling the flat. He
was struggling to manage on statutory sick
pay and a small service pension. The adviser
at Dorchester CAB successfully applied for
benefits and extra war pension amounting to
over £12,500 per year, as well as getting the
holiday pay and bonuses due to him. Best of
all, he was given the tenancy of a ground floor
flat with adapted facilities to assist with his
disabilities.
At Denbighshire CAB, the client, ex RAF, was
suffering with dementia. His wife was physically
disabled and frail. By claiming attendance
allowance and related additions, their annual
income was increased by over £16,000.
After intense negotiation, the client’s debts,
amounting to nearly £20,000 to five different
creditors were successfully written off.
the Citizen summer 2010 7

across the service
Local campaigns
for local people
As well as providing the advice people
need for the problems they face, the
Citizens Advice service’s twin aim is to
improve the policies and practices that
affect people’s lives.
Having dealt with 7.1 million issues during 2009/10,
we are ideally placed to identify areas that are
adversely affecting our clients and use this evidence
to prevent other people experiencing the same
problems. From successfully lobbying for tough new
measures to enforce the payment of Employment
Tribunal awards to highlighting best practice on
reducing the hidden costs of education, our clients’
experience is invaluable to campaign for change.
Firmly rooted in their local communities, bureaux
see the effects unfair practices have on their clients
every day, as well as the hardship and distress they
cause. Collecting examples of these can be the first
step towards improving the lives of hundreds of
thousands of people, especially where a local issue
has a much wider national implication.
The Hung up campaign highlighted the cost of
calling government phone lines from a mobile
phone. Finding that half of their clients did not
have a landline, Leeds CAB gathered evidence
from 70 bureaux across the North of England,
showing many people on low incomes struggled
to afford to contact government about benefits
and tax credits. They published the Hung up report
in June 2009 and worked with the media, MPs
and civil servants to press for changes. In January
2010, the Department for Work and Pensions
(DWP) announced that most of their 0800 numbers
would be free to mobile phone users, thanks to
an agreement with the six biggest mobile phone
operators. It is estimated that this will help nine
million people.
Bureau experience with vulnerable clients affected
by bailiffs’ poor practice led Citizens Advice and
the Local Government Association (LGA) to launch
a joint good practice protocol for bureaux to use
with local authorities to improve collection of
council tax debts. Bath and North East Somerset
District Council found that using the protocol
can help boost collection rates by adopting a
more realistic and flexible approach, something
Bath CAB has raised during their regular threeway
meetings. Bureaux have reported much
improved communications with local authorities
enabling them to achieve significant outcomes
for vulnerable and struggling clients. Bureaux in
Northumberland are now being consulted by the
council as part of a tendering exercise to select new
bailiffs.
As well as influencing local and national decision
makers, one of the strengths of bureaux is in
campaigning to improve access to essential services
in their communities.
With no Jobcentre in Bishops Stortford, East
Hertfordshire CAB saw first hand the problems
clients were having, travelling long distances
to Harlow or Hertford. Working with the local
newspaper, the YMCA and Kickstart, the bureau
joined in the petition to bring the Jobcentre back
with the support of their local MP. Altogether over
1,000 signatures were collected and in March this
year, Jobcentre Plus agreed to provide an outreach
service in the town three days a week.
Bringing examples of unfair practice and poor
customer service to the attention of the companies
involved, can lead to improved communication and
liaison, which paves the way for resolving future
issues quickly and efficiently.
8 the Citizen summer 2010

across the service
Leeds CAB collecting awards for its Hung up campaign
Identifying a local Housing Association’s poor
customer service, repair and complaints procedures
as a major issue for tenants, Camden CAB collated
evidence from the previous 12 months to present to
the Housing Association. This resulted in the bureau
being asked to join a working party to review and
improve procedures and to provide feedback on
future tenant experiences.
Melton CAB collected evidence from 200 clients
on unfair practices used by energy suppliers
including excessive bills and poor customer service.
The consequent report was sent to the six big
energy suppliers who all recognised that customer
services needed improving and were keen to redress
any mistakes that were brought to their attention.
Sometimes the evidence bureaux uncover
necessitates further investigation. After numerous
complaints, evidence of clamping infringements
collated by Derby Citizens Advice and Law
Centre (CALC) was passed to the Security Industry
Authority (SIA). As a result, the Director of the
company is being prosecuted by Derbyshire
Constabulary for working without a SIA licence.
Few changes in policy happen overnight and even
when legislation has been introduced to right a
wrong, bureaux continue to monitor its effect
on clients. Three years after the Tenancy Deposit
Protection legislation was implemented, bureaux
continue to raise tenants’ awareness of the
scheme to make sure they do not get conned by
unscrupulous landlords and agents.
Citizens Advice collates the evidence collected by
bureaux and uses this to work with other partners
to address common issues at a national level. A year
long joint campaign with Crisis, Shelter and the
Chartered Institute of Housing culminated in the
Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants)
Act becoming law on 8 April. The campaign was
calling for protection for tenants evicted, with little
or no notice, when landlords default on mortgage
repayments. Bureaux collected evidence from over
1,000 clients and wrote to their local MPs asking
them to support the Early Day Motion, resulting in
150 signatures being collected.
Our current campaigns are focusing on clients’
experiences of back-to-work support and the work
capability assessment for employment and support
allowance.
With welfare reform being a hot topic for the new
Government, the evidence from bureaux should
prove both timely and invaluable.
the Citizen summer 2010 9

financial inclusion
Connect
to tackle
financial exclusion
With around 7.8 million people in the
UK unable to access mainstream
credit and increasing levels of
personal debt – during 2009/10 the
Citizens Advice service dealt with 2.4 million debt
enquiries – financial exclusion continues to be a
major issue.
To tackle this, Citizens Advice has joined forces
with the Association of British Credit Unions
Ltd (ABCUL) to encourage bureaux and credit
unions to develop sustainable local partnerships.
By working together, the partnerships are able
to offer better and more joined up services to
people who are financially excluded.
The Connect project, funded by Barclays
Bank plc and supported by grants from the
Abbey Charitable Trust, has just awarded small
bursaries to 15 new partnerships. This Small
Bursaries scheme has had a huge response with
over 80 credit unions and bureaux completing
applications. The 15 awards will be able to kick
start or further develop sustainable working
partnerships with a wide variety of initiatives.
The Connect 1 project supported a total of 12
applications to create new partnerships or build
on existing ones. Using a variety of models, the
project developed a toolkit to establish good
practice.
As well as learning more about each other’s
services, partnerships were able to develop
joint referral schemes and, in some places, joint
services.
Caerphilly County CAB and Caerphilly Credit
Union set up a rent clinic with their local Housing
Association to help first time defaulters get back
on track.
10 the Citizen summer 2010
© Citizens Advice/ABCUL 2008
In a predominantly rural area, Caledfryn Credit
Union and Denbigh CAB hired a bus during
Advice Week, making direct contact with over
1,000 people.
Credit unions and bureaux are ideally placed to
work together to tackle financial exclusion. Both
are community based, offering local services and
have an ethos of helping people with their rights
and responsibilities.
In addition to free debt advice, over 200 bureaux
across England and Wales work with a variety of
partners to deliver financial capability training to
help people manage their finances and budget
effectively.
With over 800,000 people using their services,
credit unions offer a range of accessible financial
services, including affordable credit. As well as
encouraging a savings culture, they help people
develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to
make informed decisions about their personal
finances.

financial inclusion
> CASE STUDY
© Citizens Advice/ABCUL 2008
Lesley Powell (Manager, Denbigh CAB with Ann
Francis (Manager, Caledfryn Credit Union)
Bolton CAB referred a client to
Quids In Bolton Credit Union.
A significant proportion of
his wages were taken up by
repaying a credit debt which
would have taken nearly ten
years to pay off.
Accepted for a credit union
loan, the debt will now be
repaid within three years for the
same monthly repayment.
Without access to basic financial services, people
become reliant on alternative forms of credit such as
doorstep lenders, pawnbrokers and cheque cashing
shops.
Those who can least afford it end up paying a
“poverty premium”, paying higher charges for basic
services. Estimated figures show that this can cost
people around £1,000 a year, leading to further
indebtedness and continued financial exclusion.
Credit unions are able to offer members affordable
credit and always consider the member’s personal
circumstances alongside their ability to repay.
Borrowing £300 over six months from a doorstep
lender could cost a massive £200 in interest
charges, compared to a maximum of £22 for a
credit union loan.
The partnership means that members who are
struggling with their finances are encouraged to
seek advice from their local bureau rather than
borrowing more money. It can also increase people’s
income by ensuring they are claiming all the
benefits they are entitled to.
> CASE STUDY
A client is getting debt
advice from the bureau and
budgeting assistance from the
credit union.
As payments fall due or new
arrangements are made with
creditors, he takes the budget
sheet that the bureau drew
up for him to the credit union
who arrange for the cheques
to be sent off.
This ensures the long-term
effectiveness of the debt
advice given by the bureau
and helps the client with
budgeting skills.
From a bureau’s point of view, they can give clients
information about local financial services which can
help people access savings, affordable credit and
budgeting accounts for bill payments.
For more information, see
http://creditunioncommunities.org
the Citizen summer 2010 11

did you know
Quarterly statistics
(October – December 2009)
In this quarter, we advised 620,000 clients on
1.7 million new problems
Percentage increases on the same period last year:
Debt queries up 24%
32% increase in fuel debts queries
27% increase in rent arrears to private
landlords
30% increase in telephone debts
Benefits/tax credits queries up 22%
Enquiries were solved by:
Giving the client information or referral/
signposting – 41%
Further help and advice from advisers – 43%
Ongoing casework – 16%
In addition:
Education advice – up 30%
Financial products and services advice – up 25%
Immigration and asylum advice – up 26%
Health and community care – up 24%
Sign up for advice
Citizens Advice has launched its first ever web pages
dedicated to giving advice in British Sign Language
(BSL) to help the 250,000 BSL users find a convenient
way of accessing Citizen Advice services.
Written and presented by deaf employee and
volunteer CAB advisers, the five BSL films have been
specially commissioned and designed for the deaf
community.
As well as an introductory film on how and where
to get help at bureaux in England and Wales, the
other four BSL films cover the most common queries
bureaux deal with; debt, benefits, discrimination and
employment – including discrimination at work.
You can see the films at www.adviceguide.org.uk/bsl
or YouTube/Citizens Advice.
On 17 May, staff from the Royal Association for Deaf
People (RAD) and Citizens Advice took part in the
London Legal sponsored walk raising over £1,600
(so far) to fund webcams and other technology to
improve deaf people’s access to advice at bureaux
and law centres around England and Wales.
Coming next issue:
> Equality Act
> Bureaux and local authorities facing the
challenges together
> An inside look at financial capability
forums
Citizens Advice is an operating name of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux.
Registered charity number 279057