Policy research publications
Citizens Advice regularly publishes policy research on issues affecting clients of our service. We use this evidence to campaign for changes in policies and services.
Welfare
Welfare and benefits forms the largest area of advice we deliver giving us some of the clearest insights into the way in which the system works and the challenges it poses.
Consumer
We all now have to behave as consumers in an increasing number of markets. Our consumer policy work looks at how people are treated in everything from telecoms and financial services, to housing and online marketplaces.
Debt and money
- 1.3 million households have fallen behind on council tax due to coronavirus
- Near the cliff-edge: how to protect households facing debt during COVID-19
- Wrong side of the tax: Council tax debt collection needs to change
- Negative Budgets: A new perspective on poverty and household finances
- Council tax debt collection isn’t efficient or effective
- Gweld popeth
Work
Our work policy research covers both employment and self-employment. It looks at the increasing diversity of working arrangements and how this is affecting pay, work-life balance and redress when things go wrong.
Pensions
Our pensions policy work explores how people understand pensions and what can be done to help consumers make positive pension choices while also protecting them from potential risks.
Energy
We are the official consumer body for energy. We use research and evidence from the people who contact our advice service every day to understand the problems facing energy consumers in Great Britain. We help solve these problems by engaging with industry, changing policy and supporting consumers to navigate the market.
Post
As the statutory consumer body for postal consumers in England and Wales, we commission research, build evidence-based policy positions to embed the needs of postal consumers into decision-making, with specific regard for the needs of vulnerable consumers.
Justice
Through Citizens Advice and the Witness Service, we support hundreds of thousands of people pursuing justice or going to court as a victim or a witness.
Housing
- A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the balance of rights and responsibilities between landlords and tenants: Citizens Advice response to MHCLG’s call for evidence
- A national landlord and property register: how it could work in practice
- Getting the house in order: How to improve standards in the private rented sector
- Considering the case for a Housing Court: Citizens Advice response to MHCLG’s call for evidence
- Touch and go: how to protect private renters from retaliatory eviction in England
- Gweld popeth
Public services
We help thousands of people with public service issues every year. This means we have a really detailed understanding of public services and how they can best support their users.
Wales
- Citizens Advice Cymru submission to the ELGC Committee Inquiry into COVID-19
- Facing the cliff edge: Protecting people in Wales from the financial consequences of Covid-19
- New figures from Citizens Advice Cymru lay bare the scale of financial crisis caused by Coronavirus in Wales
- The Potential Impact of Coronavirus on Council Tax Arrears / Effaith bosibl Coronafirws ar Ôl-ddyledion Treth Gyngor
- Helping Wales through the Covid-19 pandemic
- Gweld popeth
Data trends
At Citizens Advice, we see millions of people with many different kinds of problems. This gives us a unique insight into the challenges people are facing today and the impact of coronavirus on their lives. We’ve pulled together data from across our website and local advice services to understand people’s concerns during this crisis.