Citizens Advice Newcastle make a record of every inquiry brought to us. This adds up to a huge wealth of information about the problems people experience. We work proactively to prevent similar problems happening to others. The Research and Campaign work at Citizens Advice Newcastle is kindly funded through the Millfield House Foundation.
We use this evidence to highlight the effects that policies have on real people in the real world, and to suggest improvements to the policies and services of national and local government and businesses. We aim to stop problems at their source, using the direct experience of the communities that local Citizens Advices' serve.
With local or regional issues, local Citizens Advice may act individually or join forces with other local Citizens Advice offices and outside agencies, using their client evidence to lobby MPs, Councillors, local authorities and others, as well as presenting their findings in the media. The Research and Campaigns work at Citizens Advice Newcastle focuses on amplifying the voice of our clients to highlight the real world effects of policy.
Citizens Advice Newcastle strongly believes in increasing the capacity, confidence and ability for other local offices in the region to undertake effective campaign work. We believe that by working together we can increase our reach and add weight to the work we are collectively undertaking.
Citizens Advice Newcastle liaises with National Citizens Advice to identify issues, propose solutions and increase awareness around a particular problem. Citizens Advice can then present evidence to policy makers by working in partnership, collating evidence, writing submissions to consultations and lobbying to improve policies.
Citizens Advice is respected for its impartiality and independent analysis, and is listened to at all levels of government. Councillors, MPs, Select Committees and Ministers all consult the service on a wide range of issues.This enables us to effectively campaign for social justice and get laws and policies changed for the better.
We are currently campaigning on issues as diverse as:
Within these campaigns, we have achieved significant progress in improving the policies and practices that effect our clients lives.
More information on Citizens Advice campaigns can be found on the National Website. You can keep up to date with Citizen Advice Newcastle's activity by following our dedicated Campaign & Research feed on Twitter.