It was recently announced that the Citizen’s Advice Bureau was set to lose a large number of its face to face debt advisors as a result of government funding cuts, which would have had a serious effect on the ability of the charity to help the many people that approach it for debt advice each year. Demand for this sort of advice has soared over the past couple of years due to the financial crisis and recession, and there were concerns that the loss of services could have a profound effect on the ability of consumers to get the advice that they needed.

However, it has now been announced that the government has found an additional £27 million that it can plough into face to face debt advice for consumers, which means that the sector can benefit from funding for another year during which more people with debt related problems can receive the help that they need.

Many people have had to seek debt advice because of their financial issues over the past couple of years, and there are many more than will be looking for help this year as a result of soaring living costs, VAT increases, job losses, and possible interest rate hikes, which may come later this year according to some industry experts.

Secretary of State for Business Vince Cable stated: “It´s vitally important that everyone has access to free debt advice, and I am pleased to announce that the Department for Business will provide the £27 million necessary to maintain the programme of face-to-face debt advice. While the Government has maintained funding for this programme, it provides only a small part of the revenue necessary to keep the Citizens Advice network fully functioning. I would like to take this opportunity to call on the other funding streams, such as from local authorities, to help provide whatever support they can to keep this excellent service going.”