Citizens Advice England and Wales
Operating name of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. Registered charity 279057 and company 01436945.
Charity recordUse This Hub to Check the Evidence
This rebuilt page combines the newer Right First Time UK transparency layout with the detailed material from the original site. The original information, evidence routes and source links are kept below rather than being replaced.
1. Read the information
Use the restored sections below for the detailed subject guide and background.
2. Open the evidence
Source, evidence and information links are shown as clear buttons so you can check the underlying material.
3. Check current status
Where a subject changes over time, use the linked official source for the latest published position.
Information & Evidence Shortcuts
Quick access to source links already included in the original RFTUK page.
Full RFTUK Information & Evidence
Right First Time UK • Charity Accounts • Public Funding • Services • Impact • Governance
Understand the structure first
Citizens Advice is not one single UK-wide charity. The national Citizens Advice charity operates in England and Wales and works with independent local Citizens Advice charities. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate structures.
Local Citizens Advice charities
Local offices are separate charities with their own trustees, funders, employees, accounts, grants and contracts. Their finances are not fully included in the national charity's income figure.
Find local officeScotland
Citizens Advice Scotland supports Scotland's independent bureaux network.
Scottish reportsNorthern Ireland
Advice NI supports independent advice organisations across Northern Ireland.
Advice NI reportsWales
The national Citizens Advice charity covers England and Wales, with Welsh services and funding also reported separately in some publications.
Wales impactTransparency rule: always state whether a figure concerns the national charity, the whole England and Wales service, one local charity, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Latest national snapshot: 2024–25
£167.831m
Filed income for the national charity for the year ending 31 March 2025.
2.71m
People helped across England and Wales.
44m
Visits, with 61 million page views reported.
627,000
People helped in person.
1.7m
People using telephone services.
928,000
People helped through adviser-led digital channels.
80,000
Witnesses supported.
19,600
Reported alongside 10,000 staff and around 1,900 locations.
£783m
Citizens Advice's estimated saving to government and public services.
Annual accounts and year-by-year record
Use audited accounts, the Charity Commission and Companies House together. The national accounts should not be presented as the combined accounts of every local Citizens Advice charity.
| Year | People helped | Service information | Accounts and report |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | 2.71 million | National income £167.831m; 44m website visits; £783m estimated public-service savings; £5.3bn estimated social and economic value. | Annual report · Charity record |
| 2023–24 | 2.7 million | 1.8m by phone, 760,000 by email and 168,000 through webchat in published evidence. | Report archive |
| 2022–23 | 2.66 million | 60.6m page views; £681m estimated savings to government and public services; £4.7bn wider value. | Full report |
| 2021–22 | 2.55 million | 40.6m website visits. | Full report |
| 2020–21 | 2.4 million | 40m website visits. | Full report |
Annual reportsNational annual reports from recent years.
Charity filingsAccounts, annual returns and submission history.
Companies HouseCompany accounts, officers and confirmation statements.
Impact reportsPeople helped, outcomes and value calculations.
Account sections to extract each year
- Total income and expenditure.
- Government grants and contracts.
- Restricted and unrestricted funding.
- Charitable activity, fundraising and support costs.
- Money distributed to local Citizens Advice charities.
- Staff costs, employee numbers and higher-paid staff bands.
- Executive remuneration, trustee expenses and related parties.
- Pension liabilities, leases, reserves and principal risks.
Funding sources to track
🏛️
Central government
Departments can fund national services, witness support, benefits, consumer and debt programmes.
🏙️
Local councils
Councils often provide local grants or commission local advice contracts.
⚡
Energy and post
Citizens Advice performs statutory consumer roles in energy and postal markets.
💳
Debt and pensions
Specialist services may be commissioned through the Money and Pensions Service.
🤝
Trusts and companies
Foundations and corporate partners may support national or local projects.
❤️
Donations
Public fundraising and appeals may support core or restricted work.
For every funder record: amount, year, purpose, grant or contract, restrictions, targets, delivery area, money passed to local offices and results achieved.
People helped and reported outcomes
Access and satisfaction
For 2024–25 Citizens Advice reported that 75% said their problem was resolved, 74% found the service easy to access and 85% would recommend it.
Financial outcomes
It reported helping write off an average £16,303 in debt per relevant person and identifying an average £7,685 additional annual income.
Value to society
Citizens Advice reports £13.48 of client benefit for every £1 spent, £783m public-service savings and £5.3bn total social and economic value.
Important limitation
These are modelled impact estimates, not cash received by the Treasury. The technical annex and assumptions should be read before republishing them.
Support Citizens Advice provides
Benefits
Universal Credit, PIP, DLA, ESA, sanctions, overpayments and appeals.
OpenDebt and money
Budgets, priority debt, bailiffs, insolvency and creditor options.
OpenHousing
Rent, eviction, homelessness, repairs, deposits and mortgages.
OpenEnergy
Bills, meters, debt, suppliers, grants and complaints.
OpenConsumer rights
Faulty goods, services, scams, builders, vehicles and refunds.
OpenEmployment
Pay, dismissal, discrimination, contracts and redundancy.
OpenFamily
Separation, children, domestic abuse and maintenance.
OpenLaw and courts
Rights, court processes, discrimination and legal signposting.
OpenImmigration
Basic immigration information and regulated-adviser signposting.
OpenHealth and care
NHS charges, complaints, social care and disability rights.
OpenPension Wise
Guidance about defined-contribution pension options.
OpenWitness Service
Support for witnesses attending criminal courts.
OpenLocal Citizens Advice transparency checker
Find the legal charity
Use the local-office finder, then record the exact legal name and charity number.
Find officeCheck accounts
Review five years of income, expenditure, reserves, grants, contracts, trustees and filing compliance.
Search registerCheck council funding
Search grant registers, contract registers, spending data and council meeting papers.
Find councilCompare outputs
Record people helped, issues dealt with, waiting times, outcomes, staffing and complaint data.
Companies HouseTrustees, leadership and pay
Trustee registerOfficial registered trustee information.
Company officersCurrent and former directors and secretaries.
Pay-gap reportsGender, ethnicity and disability pay-gap publications.
Pay disclosuresExecutive pay, staff bands and pension information in account notes.
Check executive pay, higher-paid staff bands, pension contributions, trustee expenses, related-party transactions, conflicts of interest, reserves and risk controls.
Complaints and accountability
Citizens Advice complaint
Use the formal complaints process for service, delay, conduct or quality concerns.
Complaint processCharity Commission
Serious governance, safeguarding or financial concerns may fall within the regulator's remit.
ComplainICO
Raise concerns about personal-data handling or information rights.
ICOFair reporting: distinguish complaints, allegations, investigations, findings, responses and final outcomes.
Current information and recent developments
This section adds current context while keeping the historical information and evidence above. Figures should always be read with the year and service area stated, because national Citizens Advice, local charities and specialist consumer services report different measures.
2025–26 service context
Citizens Advice reports that 2.4 million people were helped by phone, email, webchat or in person during 2025–26. Its consumer advice and advocacy annual report for 2025–26 says nearly 6 million people accessed help on consumer issues and estimates that the consumer service saved people £158 million.
Debt and cost-of-living pressure
Citizens Advice reported that more than 400,000 people sought help with debt problems during 2025. It also reported helping more than 51,000 people with crisis support between 1 January and 15 March 2026, with almost 175,000 people receiving help across a broader group of cost-of-living issues during that period.
Benefits and PIP
In July 2026 Citizens Advice said its advisers had helped nearly 900 people a day with PIP issues in the previous year and had helped more than 50,000 people challenge or appeal a PIP decision. This is Citizens Advice's published service evidence and policy commentary, not an official DWP performance measure.
Transparency checklist
Download annual reports, identify each funder, separate grants from contracts, track money passed to local charities, compare spending with people helped, review executive pay and reserves, and publish complaints or findings with the organisation's response.