Citizens Advice Leeds is a local charity working for a fairer society.
We’re also part of a national network of 300 local organisations – the Citizens Advice service – that helps 2.7 million people a year.
By working together we’re able to evidence how national policies are affecting people in Leeds and throughout the country.
Here are some of the campaigns we’re working on:
Fix Universal Credit
Citizens Advice is leading a national campaign calling for improvements to Universal Credit and Citizens Advice Leeds has written to local MPs and Councillors to voice our concerns about how local people are being affected.
In November’s Budget the Government committed to a number of changes we had been calling for, including:
- Removing the 7 waiting days for a first payment
- Making the Universal Credit helpline free
- Improving arrangements for advance payments and housing costs
Universal Credit full service will be introduced in Leeds in October 2018 and we’ll continue to submit evidence where we find the system is affecting people unfairly.
Debt and High Cost Credit
Citizens Advice Leeds regularly submits evidence to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other consultations about the impact of high cost credit and other debt problems.
Following their latest consultation the FCA announced plans to cap the cost of credit in the rent-to-own sector, an initiative we welcomed as a significant step in protecting people on low incomes from unnecessary expense.
We’ll be continuing our campaigning on high cost credit to extend protection to door-step lending customers and reduce the costs of unauthorised overdrafts.
Scams Awareness
We often see the effects of scams on vulnerable people, which can lead to the loss of significant sums of money and to victimisation and abuse. Such cases can be very distressing and there may be little prospect of recovering the money that’s been stolen.
That’s why we take part in Scams Awareness Month, a yearly campaign which aims to create a network of confident, alert consumers who ‘don’t miss a trick’ when it comes to scams.
Help us spread the message that scams are crimes that can happen to anyone and we don’t need to be embarrassed if we fall victim to them.