Citizens Advice
BIS is responsible for promoting and sponsoring the work of the Citizens Advice Service across the UK (other than in Northern Ireland) on behalf of all Government Departments and the Devolved Administrations
BIS is responsible for promoting and sponsoring the work of the Citizens Advice Service through its funding of the umbrella bodies: Citizens Advice (CitA) in England and Wales and Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) on behalf of all Government Departments.
The Citizens Advice Service in Northern Ireland is an independent organisation funded separately by the Department for Social Development.
Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland are independent organisations and registered charities. Their role is to:
- support, develop and lead the service by setting, maintaining and monitoring standards in bureaux
- providing information and advice to bureaux
- training bureau staff and volunteers
- supporting and developing bureaux services
- through client and case analysis, feeding back to policy makers and others across government trends in social policy
Each Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is a separate registered charity operating independently, and funded mainly by the local authority in which they are located. They are not funded by central government.
There are 484 bureaux throughout the UK:
- 382 in England and Wales
- 80 in Scotland
- 22 in Northern Ireland
In addition to main bureau offices, advice is delivered in a multitude of settings including in local GP surgeries, community centres, libraries, magistrates courts and hospitals – in total over 3,800 locations across the UK.
Contact details for local CAB’s are usually listed in local telephone directories but can also be found by visiting the CitA or CAS web sites.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who funds my local Citizens Advice Bureau?
Each local bureau is an independent registered charity that receives funding from a variety of sources, but their core funding usually comes from the local authority in which the bureau is located based on local needs and priorities.
Q2. Why doesn't Central Government fund my local Citizens Advice Bureau?
Each bureau provides a service that is geared towards the needs of local people with many actively working in partnership with public and other voluntary organisations to respond to the needs of their communities, helping to promote social regeneration through helping individuals and building stronger communities.
Q3. What do I do if I have a complaint against my local CAB?
CitA, CAS and individual bureaux have well established complaints procedures. A free leaflet explaining the procedure should be available in local bureaux. Alternatively more details can be found by visiting either the CitA (for England and Wales) or CAS (for Scotland) websites.
Q4. What about Northern Ireland?
The CAB Service in Northern Ireland is not funded by BIS. The contact details for the service in Northern Ireland are:
Citizens Advice Regional Office
46 Donegall Pass
Belfast
BT7 1BS
Telephone: 028 9023 6522
Website: www.citizensadvice.co.uk
Enquiries: Issues about local authority funding in England and Wales should be referred to:
The Department for Communities and Local Government
Eland House
Bressenden Place
London SW1E 5DU
Helpline: 0303 444000
lgf@communities.gsi.gov.uk
Issues about local authority funding in Scotland should be referred to:
Scottish Government:
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Telephone: 0131 556 8400
Research Reports
In September 2010 BIS commissioned an independent value for money review of Citizens Advice (CitA) and Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) to inform the CSR process.
The review looked at what activities Government needs to fund and which might be funded from other sources; whether Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland provide good value for money; and whether the ways in which they are governed are suitable for their needs. The review was carried out by Dr Bob Dobbie (see link below for full report).
Review of Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland (PDF, 132 Kb)
