Citizens Advice calls for more efforts to help poor

Citizens Advice has called on the government to do more to help the poorest people living in the UK.

The organisation has welcomed commitments within the Budget to raise the child tax credit and child benefits, but is keen to see more money reach the families that need it most.

Billions of pounds in benefit money is currently going unclaimed on an annual basis, which for many people will mean their debt management problems are made worse and Citizens Advice wants to see this issue addressed.

Citizens Advice’s policy director Teresa Perchard said: “The government needs to do better to help people who are eligible for benefits to claim them.

“The measure of the governments programme to ‘transform’ public services should be that fewer people miss out on claiming their entitlements in future.”

Many thousands of people approach Citizens Advice about debt each month in the UK, according to the organisaiton’s own figures.