SERVICES ARE FREE, INDEPENDENT AND CONFIDENTIAL
We Provide Advice
We provide advice services responding to clients needs via the telephone, email, on-line and face-to-face. Our aim is to empower clients to better help themselves. That’s why we are here – to provide additional support and advice as and when it is most needed.
The over-arching aims, values and principles of Citizens Advice
Provide the advice people need for the problems they face, and improve the policies and practices that affect peoples’ lives
How do we do this?
By providing information and advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities
Equipping our clients with the knowledge, skills and confidence to take control of their lives
Enabling our clients to take informed decisions to address their problems
Focusing on our clients as individuals who may have a wide range of problems
Advice Based on Evidence
The design, delivery and evaluation of services must be evidence based. We want to be sure we can show the difference we make for people. And we want to show that we deliver value for money.
For every £1 invested in our services in 2016-2019, we generated
£4.20: Savings to government and public services (fiscal benefits)
By helping to stop problems occurring or escalating, we reduce the need for public services (health, housing, out of work benefits)
£25.56: Wider economic and social benefits (public value)
By supporting and helping to solve residents’ problems improves lives and this means better well-being, participation and productivity for residents, communities and the boroughs we serve
£16.59: Financial value to the people we help
Through our services and support we can increase peoples’ income, help write off debt, take up benefits and resolve consumer issues
We Measure Economic and Financial Gains
While pursuing benefits appeals and chasing down unjust money claims, our actions can be assessed through the Treasury-recognised econometric model within Citizens Advice.
In other cases, satisfaction is measured by the determining factors of the issues i.e. a home is retained, a debt managed, an employment issue resolved.
Latest Outcomes and Impact Research Results
With national Citizens Advice, clients are invited to participate in feedback. Where the client agrees, a third party organisation contacts them to complete a survey (telephone or online) as to their experience with us.
This is the most recent National Citizens Advice National Outcome & Impact Research – 2020.
Research objectives were:
User experience: We looked at people’s experiences of our services and how they accessed support. We also explored how the pandemic affected people’s problems, and how this changed their user journey.
Understanding the people we help: We focused on their situations and needs.
Outcome and Impact: We looked at whether we helped people find a way forward, and how our advice improved other aspects of their lives.
We embrace these principles
Build and foster trust with those we work closely with.
Embrace joint working and collaboration to meet individual needs, tackle wider strategic issues and maximise resources. We need to work together, drawing on the diverse skills, knowledge and experience of our team, our partners and those we work closely with.
Work flexibly by adapting to the demographics and needs of individuals, families and communities – and how they prefer to receive support.
Be supportive of the increasingly complex challenges clients face, which can be immensely stressful for them, their families and those who support them. We are here for our clients and our team. We recognise that to best support clients we need to ensure those who work and volunteer with us are comprehensively supported.
Client Satisfaction Survey
During the year, we separately surveyed our Lambeth clients to evaluate the longer term impact of our advice and support. Clients reported that following our advice and support:
81% had a better understanding of the issues/challenges they were facing
92% reported their confidence had improved to encourage them to take further action or to seek additional support if required”
92% were concerned about debt or financial challenges and were able to better manage finances/household budgets
95% said our advice and support were key to helping them improve their overall well being.