Welfare - Citizens Advice

Contents Introduction p3 A More Financially Resilient Wales Value of Advice p5 Income Maximisation p6 A Fairer Wales Housing p8 Council Tax Reform p9 A Healthier Wales Mental

In 2012/13 our known financial benefit for clients following advice was: Welfare and tax credits advice £280m Housing advice £5m Employment advice £6m In addition, clients also had:

After the budget and spending review The following changes will affect her income ƒ Rise in tax threshold by £1,000 gain of £3.84/person/week ƒ Increase in child element of CTC of

Expectant mother Tokens for seven pints of cow’s milk per week Parents with a child under one year Tokens for seven pints of cow’s milk per week or 900 grams of infant formula Tokens

Our research has shown that energy price rises, coupled with the reduction in Universal Credit, will push three quarters of those we help with benefits and debt into a negative budget.6

In the first 4 weeks of lockdown 23 March - 19 April, 35% of the people our advisers helped were seeking advice on Universal Credit, and 30% on other benefits and tax credit issues..

Local authorities could also consider extending the backdating period for Council Tax Reduction beyond the 3 month minimum.​ Whilst the Council Tax Reduction Scheme CTRS is an

▲ Graph 1: Top 10 advice areas dealt with by Citizens Advice in Wales during Q3 2015-16 and Q3 2014-15 Benefit and tax credit problems remain by far the largest grouping of issues