Lincolnshire County Council agrees Citizen’s Advice funding rise as cost of living crisis fuels ‘unprecedented’ demand

More funding is to be given to the Citizens Advice service in Lincolnshire to help it meet ‘unprecedented demand’ from people affected by the cost of living crisis.

Lincolnshire County Council’s executive agreed to increase its funding from the current £278,000 per year to an estimated £295,236 in 2024-25 and £332,980 by 2026-27 after hearing of soaring numbers of those seeking help from Citizens Advice.

It followed a review of LCC funding of the county’s Citizens Advice service which recommended fixing grants for the county’s CA service for the next three years, rising in line with the National Living Wage.

The council’s Adult Care and Community Wellbeing department carried out the review in conjunction with district councils and NHS partners.

“It is very welcome because the demand on our services is very high and it's likely to increase during the winter and going forward as the cost of living crisis continues to be with us,” said Sean Betts, impact officer for Citizens Advice South Lincolnshire.

“Increased multi-year funding would again enable our services across the region to keep helping people through these difficult times and allow us to plan for the future and offer job security.”

LCC funding has been fixed at £278,000 for the last six years and is distributed across the three Lincolnshire branches, topped up by cash from district councils. Last year that added up to £716,920.

But the 16-page report said that since 2018-19, demand for services had increased continually.

In the first quarter of 2023-24, 931 people were advised on debt management and maximising income, up from 752 in the first quarter of last year, and from 605 the year before that – both 24 per cent rises.

Unique clients who accessed the core service more than doubled from just over 1,500 in the first quarter of 2021-22 to just under 3,500 in the same period this year.

In South Lincolnshire alone, 4,829 people had been helped from January to October, 15 per cent up on the same period in 2022.

Many of these calls are linked to the crisis, driven by steepling price rises across essentials such as food, energy, and housing, with rents, in particular, at a record high.

“People are very worried,” said Sean.

“The cost of living crisis reflects the essentials that people are struggling or no longer able to afford, so I do think there is a significant amount of worry among the clients because they’re coming to see us in increasingly desperate situations.”

The longevity of the crisis, which is approaching its second winter, is also feeding the rise in cases.

And with the scaling back of winter fuel allowances from 2022, Citizens Advice expects the numbers to keep increasing.

Sean explained: “We’ve seen those already in hardship pushed into further hardship, and people that were just about managing no longer being able to manage and needing to seek our support.”

He added: “Our communities are facing big challenges, perhaps moreso than ever before.

“We would say people are in increasingly desperate situations. Energy bills remain high and there’s less support available than there was last year, so it may well be more difficult this winter for vulnerable members of our communities.

“Over half of our clients who we’ve helped in South Lincolnshire are disabled or have a long-term health condition.”

The report found demand for help was outstripping capacity within the branches, and only half of calls to the service’s Adviceline could be answered.

It concluded that a proposal to withdraw funding completely would lead to ‘the reduction or winding down’ of most CA services across Lincolnshire, and ultimately, more people turning to local authorities for help.

The service brought in more than £6.23 million income for Lincolnshire clients in the year 2022-23, up by £4.78 million compared to 2018-19.

“While we are helping more people, we can’t help everyone,” Sean said.

“We would like to do more, but as a local charity we need more resources to provide that support.”

As well as the extra funding, the service is also appealing for more volunteers to help make a difference.

There are currently 80 volunteers in South Lincs, down from pre-covid levels of 120.

“The more volunteers we have, we may look to potentially open our service for an extra day,” Sean added.

“We are heavily reliant on volunteers – they are the heartbeat of our service.”

For more information on volunteering, or what help is available, visit https://www.citizensadvicesouthlincs.org.uk (South Lincs), https://www.citizensadvicelincoln.org.uk/ (Lincoln and Lindsey), https://camidlincs.org.uk/ (Boston and Sleaford), and https://citizensadvicenlincs.org.uk/ (North Lincs).

What do you think? Is more help needed to combat the cost of living crisis? Let us know in the comments below...