Citizens Advice to deliver Pension Wise from more than 500 locations
Citizens Advice to deliver Pension Wise from more than 500 locations
Face to face Pension Wise sessions will be available from over 500 locations across England and Wales, Citizens Advice has announced today.
Citizens Advice is announcing six more delivery centres based at Southwark, Brent and Waltham Forest in London, plus Chelmsford, Wigan and Kirklees. In January Citizens Advice named the first 44 delivery centres with these additional delivery centres to be announced at a later date.
The completed network of 50 centres will coordinate Pension Wise sessions from their own premises, outreach locations and other bureaux. Each delivery centre will work with a different number of sites according to their own local geography, making guidance available at more than 500 locations.
The delivery centres have been selected to offer a geographical spread using data on population approaching retirement age.
Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“Pension Wise is the starting point in helping people to take control of their finances for retirement. Face to face guidance will enable people to understand their pension options and how they relate to their own situation, so they can make informed choices.
“The size of the Citizens Advice network means that we can be flexible and respond to demand by providing support in the nearest available locations, giving easy access to Pension Wise.”
Each delivery centre will employ between three and eight FTE paid, fully trained members of Pension Wise guidance staff. Staff numbers across the delivery centres and the outreach locations will vary depending on the size of the areas covered and the size of the local population who would benefit from guidance.
People will be able to go into any Citizens Advice Bureau to find out about Pension Wise, check if they would benefit from a guidance session and be helped to get an appointment. Pension Wise guidance will also be delivered by a telephone service operated by The Pension Advisory Service (TPAS) and online via the Government’s Pension Wise website.
The 50 Citizens Advice Pension Wise delivery centres are:
East Midlands
Derbyshire Districts
Lincoln and District
Leicestershire
East of England
Peterborough
Central and East Northamptonshire
Stevenage
Diss, Thetford and District
London
Brent
Merton and Lambeth
East End
Sutton Borough
Waltham Forest
Southwark
North East
North Tyneside
Darlington
North West
Cheshire West
Manchester
North Liverpool
Allerdale
Lancashire West
Wigan
South East
Rushmoor
West Oxon
Hastings and Rother 1066
High Wycombe
Arun and Chichester
Bournemouth
Maidstone
Chelmsford
South West
Plymouth
Taunton
Cornwall
Wiltshire
West Midlands
Staffordshire Southwest
Wolverhampton
Shropshire
Coventry
Worcester and WHABAC
Yorkshire and Humber
Hull and East Riding
Sheffield
Leeds
Hambelton and Richmondshire
Kirklees
Wales
Powys
Cardiff and Vale
Caerphilly
Denbighshire
Ynys Mon
Pembrokeshire
Ceredigion
Notes to editors:
- The Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local bureaux, all of which are independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website.
- The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.
- To find your local bureau in England and Wales, visit citizensadvice.org.uk. You can also get advice online at adviceguide.org.uk
- You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers
- Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2.3 million clients on 5.4 million problems from October 2013 to September 2014. For full 2013/2014 service statistics see our quarterly publication Advice trends
- Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 21,000 trained volunteers, working at over 3,000 service outlets across England and Wales.