1. The recommendation of report ES/0611 was based upon an initial review of Citizens Advice in East Suffolk that was rooted in the recognition of the importance of the support that Citizens Advice provide to individuals and families in East Suffolk, particularly those who are vulnerable for a range of reasons, and even more so in the context of Covid-19.
2. Additional funding had been made available by East Suffolk Council to support the transformation process which enabled Touchstone Renard to be commissioned to support this work. The favoured option in report ES/0611 was clearly for a merger of the three Citizens Advice and it was felt that there had been huge benefits in having an independent and objective organisation to support the process thus far and that ideally this support would continue. There was still £300 remaining from the original commission and therefore it was proposed that East Suffolk Council provide a further £5,700 to give a total of £6,000 for Stage 2 of the process to be matched by the three Citizens Advice from their individual budgets as necessary.
3. In terms of the request from Citizens Advice North East Suffolk that the funding be rebalanced between the three Citizens Advice to better reflect the population in the catchment area of each, it was felt that doing so prior to a merger would significantly impact the two southern Citizens Advice at a time when their services are needed more than ever and therefore it was proposed that East Suffolk Council should allocate an additional one off, non-recurrent payment of £16,000 in 2021/22 to Citizens Advice North East Suffolk on condition that they explore other avenues of funding secured by the other two Citizens Advice, particularly the Ropes Trust. This funding would not be added to the annual funding allocation for Citizens Advice services in East Suffolk.
4. It was strongly believed that the proposed transformation would release capacity and resources in order to enable Citizens Advice to work more closely with the Council on preventative activity to allow it to target those who may be in need of support more directly, and earlier (i.e. before they reach crisis point) than ever before.