Money Advice Contract

The Council commissions services from many third sector organisationsand the money and debt advice service is one of those. The contract for the work was won by Citizens Advice Cumbria which is a consortia of the 7 Citizens Advice Bureau across the county. The 3 year contract runs from October 2007 – September 2010 and recognises the increasing importance of good financial advice being available to residents.

The contract holder has to deliver a money/debt advice service to CLS (Community Legal Services) Quality Mark in both generalist and specialist casework to a minimum of 1200 clients each year. Additionally each client receives a financial assessment, which also includes an income maximisation statement and a benefits check. The Council’s Community Unit monitors the contract on a quarterly basis.

In the first year of the contract the number of cases delivered countywide was 1813, exceeding the required minimum by 613, equating to a performance of 151%.

In order to gain maximum benefit for users of the debt advice service, Cumbria County Council worked closely with The Legal Services Commission (LSC) who also provide some funding for the service.