Agenda item

Presentation from the Chief Executive Officer (Vicki Rowe)

The Group were presented with, and NOTED a presentation from ‘The People’s Champion’ giving ‘Trusted Advice in Times of Change’.

The following was highlighted:

Citizens Advice – The People’s Champion:

Ø  Citizens Advice presented their role as a national charity and network of local charities offering free, confidential advice online, by phone, and in person.

Ø  They positioned themselves as champions for the people, helping individuals navigate challenges with trusted, practical advice.

Service Overview (April 2024 – March 2025)

Ø  Between April 2024 and March 2025, Citizens Advice had helped 3,121 people with 10,628 problems.

Ø  Their support had increased family income by £3.6 million.

Ø  They reported unprecedented and growing demand for their services.

Key Issues in Mid Devon:

The main issues brought forward included:

Ø  Welfare benefits inquiries.

Ø  Energy problems.

Ø  Debt concerns.

Ø  Housing issues.

Partnerships and Outreach:

Ø  With funding from trusted partners, they provided specialist advice services.

Ø  Outreach locations included: Crediton (Age Concern) – Wednesday mornings (pre-booked), Cullompton (Community Centre) – every other Friday, Uffculme (Square Corner) – 2nd Friday of the month and Lapford (Ark Community Café) – last Friday of the month

Impact and Value

Ø  Volunteer contributions were valued at £947,860.

Ø  Public value of the service was estimated at £20.5 million.

Ø  For every £1 invested: Fiscal value: £2.37, Public value: £15.84 and value to individuals helped: £12.13

Ø  Estimated savings included: National Health Service (NHS): £395,540, Department of Working Pension (DWP) (keeping people in work): £1.64 million and housing providers (preventing evictions): £644,352

Achievements (2024–25)

Ø  The service had delivered 23,616 volunteer hours. Recorded 38,555 case notes. Held 4,035 in-person appointments. Responded to 1,035 simple queries and submitted 271 evidence forms for policy, research, and campaigns.

Discussion took place regarding:

·         The importance of those volunteers that help the community.

·         What was the cost of the grant funding that was received by Devon County Council for their service?

·         The concerns and uncertainty around volunteers and funding and the impact this would have on the support in the outreach locations and other surroundings.

·         Comparison costing of the funding between what the other Councils gave to the service.

·         The relationship that the Citizen Advice Bureaux had with this Council?

·         How would the income strategy reflect with Local Government Reorganisation on the horizon?

·         Was there a training programme for the volunteers? It was confirmed that these was an ongoing programme and for the first 6 weeks this would be supervised and continued support would be provided after that.

·         The main cause of the ongoing demand for the service?

It was AGREED that:

·         A review be undertaken of the funding grants within the Council in comparison with other councils.

·         Whether the grant funding that had been allocated for next year could be extended to two years to see this service through Local Government Reorganisation.

·         The Vice-Chair of the Policy Development Group (PDG) would liaise with the Homes PDG about the strategic approach for homelessness.

·         Discussions would take place in regards to room availability within the Council and if this could be offered to those that may wish to use it and who continued to provide a service for the community.

·         Details of point of contact for this Council would be shared with Citizens Advice Bureaux Chief Executive officers to enable communication. 

Notes: 

(i)            Presentations previously circulated

(ii)          Councillor B Holdman declared a personal interest in that he was the Chair of Tiverton Town Council’s Finance Committee.