Citizens Advice Bureaux

The Citizen Advice Bureaux offer free help on a range of legal topics and most have Solicitors on call at public sessions most weeks. These sessions are free as are most of the services provided by the CAB. As well as helping you with your divorce, children and finances they also offer expert advice on Welfare benefits debt management and consumer problems.

The national organisation is the NACAB.

The Citizens Advice Bureau Service offers free, independent and confidential advice. It celebrated it's Diamond Jubilee in 1999: from its origins in 1939 as an emergency service during World War II, it has evolved into a professional national agency.

Five and a half million people seek help from Citizens Advice Bureaux every year. The CAB helps solve problems which are central to people's lives, including debt and consumer issues, benefits, housing, legal matters, employment, and immigration. Advisers can help fill out forms, write letters, negotiate with creditors and represent clients at court or tribunal.

As well as giving advice, the CAB Service uses its bank of client evidence to find out where local and national services and policies should change. It has built a strong reputation for independent analysis. .

There are 700 CABx in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each CAB is an independent charity, relying on funding from the local authority and from local business, charitable trusts and individual donations.

There are now more than 30,000 people working in the Service. Ninety per cent are volunteers. They include CAB advisers, administrators and management committee members. Each bureau belongs to the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB), which sets standards for advice, training, equal opportunities and accessibility. NACAB also co-ordinates national social policy, media, publicity and parliamentary work.

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Information on this page is current and last updated: 12/03/2008

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