Citizen's Advice Torbay 85 years old and still going strong

Local independent charity Citizens Advice Torbay celebrates 85 years of  serving the community this month and is marking the occasion with expanded services and refurbished premises.

CAT is a trusted organisation supporting local people to find their way forward  and empower them to find a solution to their problems. The free service is vital to  those in need and more than 3,000 people turned to Citizens Advice for help in  the Bay last year.  

Each Citizens Advice is funded by grants and fundraising. The level of income  received has progressively reduced over recent years and the pressures on  resources has meant funding has been used to provide essential services but there hasn’t been any spare cash to keep the premises in a good state of repair.  The offices, waiting room and client interview rooms were all in dire need of a  makeover. 

Citizen's Advice Torbay B&Q Volunteering in Community programme

CAT Chief Executive, Sue Julyan, said: “Over the last five months CAT has approached businesses and organisations  across South Devon to help refresh the offices and replace some of the fixtures.  With the help of B&Q Torquay, EDF, Flooring Matters in Heathfield, the five  Torbay Rotary Clubs, SJ Dark and others, we have been able to repair and redecorate, replace the kitchenette, re-carpet throughout and replenish broken  chairs and desks as well as carrying out essential electrical work. Thank you to all  these businesses and Rotary.” 

CAT chair, Geoff Buck, said: “We will be celebrating this special birthday on November 20 and we’re grateful  for all the support businesses have offered us in this milestone year. 

“We’ve been a vital lifeline for the local community for 85 years and with our  anniversary makeover completed we can continue to deliver the full range of  services for all residents in Torbay for years to come.” 

Flooring Matters team who carpeted the Advice Centre

The Citizens Advice service is free, independent and confidential and helps people  with a wide range of issues, including benefits, debt, housing, energy bills,  discrimination, relationship breakdowns and consumer problems. 

For 85 years Citizens Advice Torbay has been helping to shape a society that’s  fairer for everyone; working on issues that affect the whole of society. 

The origins of the modern Citizens Advice service can be traced back to the 1924  Betterton Report on Public Assistance. This report recommended that centres  should be set up to offer members of the public advice to help them with their  problems. 

In 1938, recognising that the likelihood of a world war was increasing, the National  Council of Social Services established a group to look at how to meet the needs of  the civilian population in times of conflict. 

Citizen's Advice Torbay new look

The first 200 bureaux then opened on September 4, 1939, four days after World  War II began. Over the following few years, bureaux locations grew from 200 to  over 1,000 across the nation. 

As a part of this initiative, on November 8, 1940, Torquay’s Citizens Advice Bureaux  opened at 23 Abbey Road. 

From its very beginnings, volunteers ran the service working with advisers dealing  with problems relating to the loss of ration books, homelessness and evacuation. 

They also helped locate missing relatives and prisoners of war. Debt quickly  became a key issue as incomes reduced due to call-ups. 

Throughout the nation the new service was based on four principles: a free  service; confidentiality; impartiality; and independence. 

Over the years, Torbay has changed and evolved as has the organisation, but  Citizens Advice has always held to these principles. Ever since its inception in 1940  the organisation has mirrored the development, the concerns, interests, and the  challenges and opportunities of the people of Torbay. When residents have  problems and questions, one of their first ports of call has always been the CA. 

Torbay CA’s records are indeed a fascinating resource for those interested in  social change and a window into the concerns and views of a specific time in the  history of our three towns. 

These reflect the assumptions of the time and the concerns of the day. In 1959,  as a snapshot example, the Torquay CA Weekend School had a presentation by  Mrs V Bonhomme on ‘homemaking’ including hire purchase and budgeting,  alongside a session on ‘The Worker and his Family’. Note the ‘his’! 

Reflecting changes in cultural attitudes during the 1960s it was found that CA was  encountering people more willing to ask for advice about family and relationship  issues. This was partly credited to television documentaries and soaps focussing  on previously private matters, leading to much more openness. In 1960 the day  school had already featured a session on ‘matrimonial problems’. 

So, what were the issues being raised at CA’s offices and have they always been  the same? 

Throughout its history consumer protection and legal advice has consistently  been a feature of the CA’s work. 

Again, we have a real insight, this time into the consumer experience. During the  1950s and 1960s: paid-for magazines were not appearing; door-to-door salesmen  were taking money but not delivering carpets; there were demands for unsolicited  goods; overcharging for building work; poor quality correspondence courses; electric blankets sold with no safety information; “a ladies outfitter in Torquay  whose goods bore no kind of label or washing instructions”; “a washing machine  not being serviced as promised”; cigarette and knitting machines paid for but not  arriving; and dubious opportunities on offer for prospective models and  beauticians.

These complaints reflected national issues, and the 1970s saw consumer  protection becoming a national CA priority. Times were certainly changing. Up to the 1980s enquiries were mainly on housing,  property and land, with the second greatest number for consumer, family and  personal problems. However, along with the rest of the nation, social security was  gradually becoming the focus of many callers. 

The 1980s recessions accelerated a growth in poverty while changes to the benefit  system and work practices generated a large proportion of the CA’s enquiries.  Then in the early 2020s the coronavirus pandemic caused an unprecedented  challenge for both the service and residents. In all these circumstances CA was  well established and able to rapidly respond. 

What is notable is the gradual increase in those in debt and the amounts of debt  incurred. This escalation led to the setting up of the Torbay Money Advice Centre  and by the early 1990s over 400 clients were being supported. 

Alongside day-to-day support and advice, national and local changes to policy  could cause a sudden unexpected surge in demand. For instance, the Rent Act of  1957 created a “rush of anxious enquiries”, in 1962 came the Landlord and Tenant  Act, there were cuts to student support in 1984, while the 1990 Community Charge  led to a much-increased workload. 

Responding to both routine and unanticipated enquiries was a true partnership  between paid staff and highly trained volunteers. 

As the number of local cases rose over the years it also became evident how  complex, time consuming and long-term many of these enquiries were. What is  often forgotten is that, before emails, a complaint had to be made by post, then a reply awaited. This could take months and involve a good deal of manually typed  or handwritten correspondence for an issue to be resolved. 

Ever increasing demand and a reputation for problem-solving made expansion  necessary. From its beginnings in Torquay in 1940, a Brixham service then opened  in 1969, and Paignton followed in 1972. 

CA’s original premises at 23 Abbey Road, shared with the Council for Voluntary  Service, were always inadequate. Indeed, the waiting room was simultaneously  used by chiropody patients! In 1988 both Torquay organisations relocated to  Castleton House in Castle Road with CA taking all of the first floor. 

In 1972, the national Citizens Advice service became independent. Before then,  the organisation was part of the National Council of Social Services and most  bureaux were run by the local Council for Voluntary Service, as was Torbay’s.  Following the national lead, in 1983 the Bay’s Bureau became independent,  breaking ties with Torbay Voluntary Service. 

As noted, when the CA service was set up it was "to provide the advice people  need for the problems they face". There was also the second objective, "to  improve the policies and principles that affect people's lives". This is progressed  by research and campaigns, work more preventative in nature and designed to  stop problems arising in the first place. 

New demands brought new responses. An outreach programme in GP Surgeries  was launched, question and answer sections were published in the newspapers  and, taking advantage of new ways of giving out support, an online advice service  was launched in 2015. 

Demand for support across the Bay steadily escalated. In 2012 there were over  28,000 cases. 

Then the numbers began to decrease as technological advances diverted many  straightforward enquiries. Yet, the more complex century often brought clients to  the CA with multiple overlapping issues concerned with deprivation, debt,  housing, employment or ill health. The time and resources needing to be  dedicated to individual cases then massively increased.

The Bay’s CA is a well-established and professional part of a wider national  network of almost two thousand, all striving to improve the lives of our fellow  citizens. Four in ten of the British population contact CA at some point during  their lives. 

It is in our communities that the real work is being done. We can all experience  problems that seem complicated or intimidating. CA believes no one should have  to face these problems without good quality independent advice. 

That is why Citizens Advice is so well respected in Torbay. After 85 years the CA  remains a prominent resource for residents, here to give the knowledge and the  confidence we may need to find our way forward; whoever we are, and whatever  our problem.