Advice Saves
Advice Saves Campaign: Raising Awareness and Calling for Action
The #AdviceSaves campaign highlights the vital role of free, independent advice services in transforming lives across England, Wales, and Scotland. As demand for these services soars, advice centres face severe funding challenges, threatening access to life-changing support for thousands of individuals and families.
A recent Advice Saves survey of 247 advice centre staff revealed these key concerns:
- 90% of advice centre staff report an increase in demand over the last year; yet more than half (55%) report they are not confident they can meet demand.
- Only 1 in 10 (11%) feel extremely confident they can operate beyond the next year.
- More than one third (35%) are uncertain about their financial stability, and 61% foresee service cuts.
- 88% say that recruiting and retaining staff is a significant hurdle, with 4 out of 10 (42%) stating it is extremely or very challenging.
- Nearly 1 in 5 (20%) rate their well-being as ‘very poor’ or ‘poor’. Only 3% report their wellbeing as excellent, raising concerns about burnout
Watch the Advice Saves campaign video created by Advice UK and featuring Talking Money below.
Our previous client Rachel and Co-Chief Executive Anna also discussed the campaign issues on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours show. You can listen back to the show here. (39:40 mins)
Advice Saves Calls to Action
The key calls for action in England and Wales are:
Sustainable funding solutions
- Expanding statutory provisions for care and housing advice by local authorities, as outlined in the Care Act (2014) and the Homelessness Reduction Act (2017), to ensure sustainable funding for broader social welfare advice
A cross-departmental advice sector strategy
- Developing a cross-departmental advice sector strategy for England, modelled on the Welsh Government’s Information and Advice Action Plan, to integrate social welfare advice across health, housing, justice, and social care sectors, ensuring accessible advice throughout England, Scotland and Wales
A workforce development strategy
- Implementing a workforce development strategy, including apprenticeships and improved career pathways, to support the recruitment, development and retention of qualified advisers in the sector.
The key calls for action in Scotland are:
Sustainable funding solutions
- Expanding statutory provisions for housing and homelessness under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, to ensure sustainable funding for broader social welfare advice
A cross-departmental advice sector strategy
- Developing a cross-departmental advice sector strategy, modelled on the Welsh Government’s Information and Advice Action Plan, and building on the positive outcomes of the Welfare Advice test and learn programme, to integrate social welfare advice across health, housing, justice, and social care sectors, ensuring accessible advice throughout England, Scotland and Wales
A workforce development strategy
- Implementing a workforce development strategy, including apprenticeships and improved career pathways, to support the recruitment, development and retention of qualified advisers in the sector.
To learn more, visit www.adviceuk.org.uk/advicesaves/
