Navigation

Wakefield District Citizens Advice Bureau History

Helping to solve problems since 1939

Established in 1939, the Citizens Advice service continues to help people resolve their money, legal and other problems. Advice is still free, impartial, and confidential and provided by trained volunteers with the support of paid members of staff. We help people to deal with 5.5 million new problems a year and 95% of the public have heard of us. (MORI 2005)

3 September 1939: War declared

4 September 1939: The first 200 bureaux open

1939: Wakefield CAB opens its doors. Early Citizens Advice records suggest that from the start volunteers worked from public buildings and private houses. They dealt with problems relating to the loss of ration books, homelessness and evacuation. They also helped locate missing relatives and prisoners of war. Debt also quickly became a key issue as income had reduced due to call ups.

By 1942 the original 200 bureaux had increased to 1074, entirely run by volunteers in premises which included converted horse boxes parked near bombed areas.

1946: Bread rationing

1947: Rationing and control problems.

1948: Housing problems rose sharply.

1949: Personal and Matrimonial problems increased.

1950: Bureaux were still actively tracing missing persons.

In 1950 despite the success of this advice service, funding from the Ministry of Health was cut after the war and by 1953 bureaux numbers had halved. The service continued thanks to the support of other charitable trusts such as the Nuffield Foundation, Carnegie Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation. In 1960 the funding for the national body was restored.

Following The Rent Act of 1957, a quarter of all bureaux enquiries were about this issue.

By 1965 national enquiries to the Citizens Advice service totalled 1.25 million.

1970 saw consumer protection becoming a priority.

In 1973 a development grant from the Government to the national charity allowed the network of bureaux to be extended.

1973: Ossett CAB opened its doors to the public.

1973: South Elmsall CAB opened its doors to the public.

1975: Pontefract CAB opened its doors to the public.

1979: Wakefield CAB had 18 bureau workers delivering the front line advice service. In line with national directive from the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureau it became a registered charity and established a Management Committee whose primary role was to deal with major problems which were facing the bureau at that time – premises, funding and recruitment of volunteers for the front line service delivery.

The service at that time was run from a large office at the Council for Voluntary Services along with other voluntary organisations such as SSAFA. The CAB was desperate for new premises, in the 1980 annual report it suggested that ‘activities of other voluntary bodies, their callers; telephone calls and the clatter of typewriters intruded on the interviews’ this was a problem since the interviews were often ‘of a personal nature’.

In April 1979 Wakefield CAB moved into new premises which were located in the Prudential Building, 2nd Floor, 55 Westgate and for the first time the service was officially signposted in the town; the official logo of blue/yellow went on the front of the building.

In 1979/80 the bureau had 8 volunteers who had all undergone the 7 days of formal training over a 2 month period. A further directive from the national office meant for the first time all enquires into the bureau had to be written down.

Records suggest that enquires reduced in 1979, due reduced opening times because of lack of staffing. Consumer enquiries accounted for a third of all enquires.

1980: Two recessions increase poverty and enquiries rise.

1980 saw an increase in volunteers to 19 with a noticeable increase in enquiries; in April 1980 enquires totalled 420, in March 1981 they rose 1000 +. Consumer, Trade and Industry enquiries rose to 34% of the total enquires, due to the closure of the ‘Consumer Advice Service’ in the Wakefield area. Housing, Property and land enquires were at 11%, whilst Social Security enquires were just 8%, Family and Personal along with Employment were both 10% of the service enquiry.

This particular year also saw the introduction of ‘specialist’ services within the CAB; free legal service became available. Finance sessions were also available once a month; advice could be sought from an accountant on tax, insurance or investment products. In addition to this the Wakefield Express ran a fortnightly advice column compiled and written by the CAB.

1983/1984 Wakefield CAB was closed for a period of time due to lack of funding. Wakefield Council stepped in and gave supplementary funding to allow the service to re-open.

1984/1985 A 4 year partnership was entered into with Wakefield Council and in addition to this new premises were on the agenda again. In July 1985 the CAB took residence in the King Street offices that are still occupied today.

1985/1986 The bureau had 21 volunteers; recruitment of volunteers remained a priority. Enquiries rose as advice work was becoming more complex due to changes in legislation. In that year enquires were at 14510, of which 42 clients were represented at Tribunals and benefit enquiries accounted for 26%. In this year the bureau recruited its first debt worker as an increase in enquiries was observed. Consumer which included debt at that time accounted for 18% of enquiries and in addition Administration to Justice (Debt and County Court) also rose whilst Housing was 14% and Employment 9%.

Homelessness became a prominent problem due to the implementation of new regulations affecting board/lodgings and residential care which restricted benefits to claimants. Unemployment in Wakefield & Dewsbury rose in April 1986 to 15.5%. At that time 39% of residents in the Wakefield District claimed Housing Benefit. Specialist services in bureau were extended to include Trading Standards.

1986/1987 Volunteer recruitment remained a problem. The bureau dealt with 21,200 enquiries, all areas of advice saw an increase. Benefits were up to 28% whilst consumer (Inc Debt) was 20%. At this time there was a significant increase in gas/electric disconnections. £300,000 of debt had been dealt with in this year and the debt worker of the time had opened 75 cases.

1987/1988 Enquiries rose to 28690 for the year, a new outreach commenced at New Hall Prison, and statistics suggested that 8% of Wakefield residents over the age of 16 years found a need to use the service at some point for advice.

Debt: enquiries rose by a staggering 79% and the level of debt dealt with was £700,000. The average individual debt was £4,600 per client. The ‘credit boom’ claimed more casualties as nothing was put in place to restrict the easy availability of credit.

On the 16th December 1987 Wakefield CAB held a ‘Nationality Day’ and spent the full day dealing with nationality enquiries. 31st December 1987 was the last day when it was possible to register as a British Citizen under the old nationality rules.

1989 This was the Jubilee year for the Citizens Advice. HRH Princess Royal who is the Patron of the service, visited Wakefield CAB in July of that year.

Although the bureau experienced a shortage of volunteers, only having 18 at that time, enquiries increased. 2105 debt enquires were dealt with and 7515 benefit enquiries were dealt with. Nationally in 1989 the Citizens Advice service dealt with 7 million enquiries across 1161 outlets.

1990s: increased enquiries result from changes to the benefits system and work practices.

1990/1991 Wakefield CAB had 28 volunteers and 7 paid members of staff who dealt with 20,000 enquiries. 24% of which were debt enquiries, whilst 26% were benefit enquiries. Since 1981 mortgage possessions had been rising steadily. Throughout 1990/91 the bureau dealt with £1.15 million of debt, which was a significant increase on the previous year. Average individual debt rose to £5,000. Reason for indebtedness was largely recorded as unemployment, redundancy and ill health. 40% of clients had serious mortgage arrears, 10% had debts owing on secured loans on their property whilst 94% had consumer credit debt. New Hall Prison enquires totalled 296 for this year.

Normanton outreach opened its doors in 1990.

1993/94/95: Wakefield CAB had 31 volunteers, 22 trainee volunteers and 9 paid members of staff. The now ‘district’ structure of Wakefield, Pontefract, South Elmsall and Ossett Bureaux were agreed and the CAB became a limited company by guarantee.

1995/1996: Enquiries rose to 25,000 with an 18% increase on the previous year. There was an increase in Welfare Benefit enquiries and ‘legal’ issues. At this time the bureau in Wakefield had 29 volunteers and 9 trainee volunteers.


www.adviceguide.org.uk is launched in 1999, allowing people to access advice 24 hours per day. The service celebrated its Diamond Jubilee and launched the first annual Advice Week which now takes place every September.

2000/01: By this time the CAB was now a ‘district wide’ structure with offices in Wakefield, Pontefract and South Elmsall. Ossett Bureau had been closed and reduced down to an outreach service in the Health Centre. Service delivery was from the 3 permanent sites along with 8 general outreach offices across the district.

Debt became a prominent feature in the work of the CAB. In April 2000 the Legal Services Commission awarded a contract in this area of legal advice. Wakefield District CABx was awarded a Specialist Quality Mark in Debt as well as a Quality Mark in general advice with casework.

Social Policy work is a twin aim of the service and this year saw the banks introduce basic banking facilities following evidence gathered by the CAB service; a report on the National Minimum Wage was also drawn up the CAB service and the Local Authority increased the discretionary allowance for school uniforms to low income families following CAB social policy work.

2001/02: The bureau dealt with £3 million worth of debt, 41% of enquiries were around this issue. 20% of clients cited ‘over-commitment’ as their reason for debt. The bureau also raised £104K through its Tribunal/benefits work.

2003: The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureau changes its name to Citizens Advice. Citizens Advice becomes the first in the advice sector to audit the quality of their advice. An independently commissioned review of the service by the Office for Public Management concluded that ‘the CAB service provides excellent value in return for public funding it receives, it makes significant contribution to individuals and communities, as well as to make the process of policy making and service delivery, its holistic approach, national coverage and independence has to be cherished’.

2003/04: At this time the CAB had 86 volunteers across the district and 24 paid members of staff. Enquires – 28% in debt, 25% in benefits, 34% consumer, 8% housing and 7% employment.

May 2004: After a 10 year campaign using evidence from CAB clients, the Government added an amended to the Housing Bill to include a tenancy deposit scheme.

2004/05: The bureaux had 81 volunteers and 22 paid members of staff. The CAB dealt with £2 million of debt; 42% of those in debt cited ‘over commitment’ as the reason. 69% of clients contacted the bureau in person, whilst 18% via telephone and 13% via letter

2005/06: The bureau had 42 volunteers, 19 trainees, 23 paid members of staff and 15 admin staff (both paid and voluntary). 3487 clients accessed the service in this year and presented 12,154 issues. 39.7% being debt, 24.2% benefits, 6.8% employment and £2.5 million worth of debt was dealt with.

2006/07: 10,354 enquires were dealt with this year of which 50.6% were debt, 18.7% were benefits, 6.2% were employment and 3.3% housing. InJuly 2006 the bureau successfully obtained funding for further debt caseworkers via the Financial Inclusion Fund (BERR).

2007/08: The bureau over-hauled its service delivery and introduced Gateway Assessment; this gives clients greater access to the service via drop in and telephone. 20279 enquiries dealt with at our general service. Whilst 1186 clients in debt were assisted via our specialist casework service, dealing with £10 million worth of debt. Enquiry areas show 49.7% debt, 17.1% benefits, 2.7% Consumer, 4.3% Housing, 7% Employment, 6.9% legal matters.

The service is one of the UK’s largest voluntary organisations There were 426 member CABx across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each one an independent charity helping people to resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free advice and influencing policy makers. The network still relies on over 20,000 trained volunteers to keep the service running and provides free advice from 3,200 locations (in bureaux and at community outreach venues) as well as by telephone, in peoples homes and on the internet.

2008/09: The bureau currently has 75 volunteer advisers, including trainees. In addition to this we now have 28 paid members of staff. In 1979 the training was 7 days over 2 months, in comparison it now takes 10 months.

2008-9 was an extremely busy year as the recession hit. At the time of going to print, statistics for this period are being collated and will be presented at our Annual General Meeting in October.

What is certain is that 50% of our enquiries in bureau are debt.

Our debt service was needed more than ever as demand increased by 23% per month in comparison to the previous year. Our specialist debt casework service dealt with over £16 million worth of debt, a significant increase on the previous years. However, we did see a shift to a small number of clients seeking advice at an earlier stage.

More options became available to individuals to deal with their debt, namely the Debt Relief Order was introduced in April 2009 and various Mortgage Rescue Packages were introduced by the Government to try and quell the increasing uncertainty that arose around the property market.