ABOUT THE CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU
What is a Citizens Advice Bureau?
Obviously a Citizens Adviced Bureau is an advice agency but it is also more than this. Besides giving advice, information and asistance to individuals with problems, the service also attempts to tackle the underlying issues which may give rise to these problems. These activities are formally embodied in the aims of the service and are governed by four basic principles.
Obviously a Citizens Adviced Bureau is an advice agency but it is also more than this. Besides giving advice, information and asistance to individuals with problems, the service also attempts to tackle the underlying issues which may give rise to these problems. These activities are formally embodied in the aims of the service and are governed by four basic principles.
Giving Advice to Individuals
A CAB advice worker may be involved in a number of different activities when working with a client. These include:
Information giving
Advice Giving
Negotiation
Representation
Advocacy
Mediation
Referral
During the course of advising someone, the CAB worker should always respect the client's right to decide what action she or he wants to take. Clients are encouraged to act on their own behalf rather than become dependent on the CAB worker. Action is only taken on behalf of the client with the client's permission.
Aims and Principles
Aims of the service
To ensure that individuals do not suffer through lack of knowledge of their rights and responsibilities or of the service available; or through an inability to express their needs effectively and, equally;
To exercise a responsible influence on the development of social policies and services, both locally and nationally.
Four Principles of the Service
Independence
Confidentiality
Impartiality
Free
CAB advisors are expected to be able to:
Explain basic rights and responsibilities in:
employment
housing
immigration/nationality
consumer debt, employment, housing and social security
Social Policy Work
The Cab deals with many millions of enquiries nationally every year. As such, the CAB service has an enormous amount of evidence about people's experiences of the way a wide range of services operate in this country.
The CAB tries to use this evidence, wherever possible, to highlight the effects of the policies and services upon CAB clients. In this way, the CAB is able to make an impact not only on the lives of the clients who seek our advice, but also on the lives of the public in general.
CAB workers aim to integrate individual advice work and social policy work. There are various stages to carrying out social policy work. These are:
Identifying issues, eg: administrative procedures going wrong
Collecting evidence, e.g. information on client's experience of a particular problem
Presenting the edvidence: collating, drawing out the implications, making any appropriate suggestions for change
A local CAB may be involved in these activities in various ways:
By identifying local issues on local services and collecting evidence to put to the policy makers, or someone locally who can influence the policy makers, e.g. press, politicians.
By responding to requests from the National Association's Central Office to supply evidence on an issue which the Association is monitoring nationally. The National Association is frequently asked to comment on proposed changes in legislaion or social policy at a national level, and also, may initiate evidence gathering exercised when a significant issue is brought to its attention by bureaux.
A CAB advice worker may be involved in a number of different activities when working with a client. These include:
Information giving
Advice Giving
Negotiation
Representation
Advocacy
Mediation
Referral
During the course of advising someone, the CAB worker should always respect the client's right to decide what action she or he wants to take. Clients are encouraged to act on their own behalf rather than become dependent on the CAB worker. Action is only taken on behalf of the client with the client's permission.
Aims and Principles
Aims of the service
To ensure that individuals do not suffer through lack of knowledge of their rights and responsibilities or of the service available; or through an inability to express their needs effectively and, equally;
To exercise a responsible influence on the development of social policies and services, both locally and nationally.
Four Principles of the Service
Independence
Confidentiality
Impartiality
Free
CAB advisors are expected to be able to:
Explain basic rights and responsibilities in:
employment
housing
immigration/nationality
consumer debt, employment, housing and social security
Social Policy Work
The Cab deals with many millions of enquiries nationally every year. As such, the CAB service has an enormous amount of evidence about people's experiences of the way a wide range of services operate in this country.
The CAB tries to use this evidence, wherever possible, to highlight the effects of the policies and services upon CAB clients. In this way, the CAB is able to make an impact not only on the lives of the clients who seek our advice, but also on the lives of the public in general.
CAB workers aim to integrate individual advice work and social policy work. There are various stages to carrying out social policy work. These are:
Identifying issues, eg: administrative procedures going wrong
Collecting evidence, e.g. information on client's experience of a particular problem
Presenting the edvidence: collating, drawing out the implications, making any appropriate suggestions for change
A local CAB may be involved in these activities in various ways:
By identifying local issues on local services and collecting evidence to put to the policy makers, or someone locally who can influence the policy makers, e.g. press, politicians.
By responding to requests from the National Association's Central Office to supply evidence on an issue which the Association is monitoring nationally. The National Association is frequently asked to comment on proposed changes in legislaion or social policy at a national level, and also, may initiate evidence gathering exercised when a significant issue is brought to its attention by bureaux.