NEWS

Citizens Advice Exeter at risk of closure after city council cuts core funding

Charity hopes to continue providing free advice to local residents in need with help of crowdfunding campaign but cuts mean imminent service reductions and future in doubt unless new sources of funding found.

Martin Redfern

Citizens Advice Exeter is at risk of closure following Exeter City Council cuts to its funding. The charity has launched a fundraising campaign, the first in its 23-year history, to enable it to continue offering free advice to local residents in need.

The charity says it helped more than 6,000 people and dealt with over 20,000 different issues including debt, housing and employment problems in 2023-24 alone.

It also says that it saved £1.6 million in government and public service provision costs last year while generating £12 million in wider economic and social benefits.

However it has announced service reductions that will mean that the number of people it can help will fall by a third from next month because the funding cuts are forcing it to reduce staffing levels.

While the majority of its workforce is volunteers, which it says donated time worth more than £600,000 last year, they must be trained and supervised by charity employees.

The charity says that in order to prioritise its core general advice service it will have to make significant reductions in other specialist services, and that its future is at risk unless new sources of funding can be found.

Citizens Advice Exeter 2023-24 impact report Citizens Advice Exeter 2023-24 impact report

Citizens Advice Exeter chief executive Sue Julyan said: “We are currently using our reserves to continue providing free and impartial advice services to our community; however, this is not sustainable.”

She added: “We have been working hard to reduce our costs, seek alternative sources of funding and review our service model.”

“We are appealing for our community’s help to secure the future of our services, which make a huge difference to the financial and mental wellbeing of many people in Exeter.”

For the past four years the charity has received £200,000 per annum from the city council to deliver an information advice and advocacy contract that formed the foundation of its services, covering around a third of the charity’s total running costs each year.

However in February the council confirmed its plans to cut the Citizens Advice Exeter budget in favour of the Wellbeing Exeter social prescribing project, to which it allocated a total of up to £1.1 million.

Its decision followed the withdrawal of Devon County Council Wellbeing Exeter funding.

The county council had contributed £395,000 to Wellbeing Exeter’s annual running costs from 2018 to 2022, then reduced the funding to £270,000 before removing it completely.

The city council had previously contributed £260,000 to Wellbeing Exeter each year.

A Wellbeing Exeter impact report published a week after the city council’s decision to increase its funding said that a total of 5,500 people had accessed its services in the preceding eight years.

The council said the project had saved “almost £2 million” in public service delivery costs during that time.

Subscribe to The Exeter Digest - Exeter Observer's essential free email newsletter

Your personal information will be processed and stored in accordance with our Privacy Policy

Citizens Advice Exeter, which operates from the city council office building in Dix’s Field, will be closed entirely all next week before transitioning to newly-limited arrangements for drop-in and telephone advice and pre-booked appointments from next month.

It is currently booking appointments up to four weeks ahead.

The city council’s plans to relocate to new premises are expected to preclude it continuing to provide Citizens Advice Exeter with city centre accommodation.

Citizens Advice Exeter’s crowdfunding campaign has so far raised £12,000, and runs to 14 October. Donations of up to £250 will be match-funded by Aviva.


Democracy doesn't work when people don't know who is deciding what on whose behalf and what the costs and consequences of those decisions will be.

Exeter Observer is proving that reader-funded media can deliver the independent public interest journalism our local democracy needs.

Upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription to support our work and get access to exclusive premium content and more.

More stories
Devon & Cornwall Police deputy chief constable Jim Colwell, previous chief constable Will Kerr and interim chief constable James Vaughan

Devon & Cornwall Police deputy chief constable Jim Colwell receives 18-month misconduct warning

Outcome of Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation delivered day before retirement of suspended chief constable Will Kerr announced, with Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez unwilling to say whether “golden handshake” agreed.

Newtown active travel scheme map

Newtown active travel scheme approved after four years of public consultations

Joint Devon County Council and Exeter City Council project includes road closure, car parking changes and contraflow Clifton Hill cycle lane.

South West peninsula 2025 spending review road and rail investment map

Dawlish rail resilience, Exeter A379 bridge renewal and Cullompton M5 J28 schemes all shelved after spending review

Government road and rail funding announcement billed as “the biggest boost to England's transport infrastructure in a generation” largely passes Devon and Cornwall by while leaving final phase of South West Rail Resilience Programme undelivered.

Illustrative floor plan of new redevelopment proposals

New Heavitree Road police station student accommodation and “co-living” complex proposals submitted to Exeter City council

Application for full planning permission for 813-room scheme in seven blocks follows decision to reject previously-proposed 955-room scheme in two blocks which was subsequently upheld at appeal.

Change in bus passenger journey numbers 2019-20 to 2023-24 by England local transport area bar chart

National Audit Office finds decline in Devon bus passenger journey numbers among largest in country

Devon journeys down 28% – seventh from bottom across 85 areas – while journeys in Cornwall increased by more than 40%.

Danny Barnes

Danny Barnes received full £15,000 Devon County Council allowance during 2024-25

Heavitree & Whipton Barton councillor failed to sign off £14,600 community grants after attending only two of fifteen public meetings and is alleged to have worked for Scottish Labour MP Imogen Walker since shortly after last year’s general elections.

, updated

On Our Radar
Summer at the Quayside illustration

TUESDAY 29 JULY TO FRIDAY 29 AUGUST 2025

Summer at the Quayside

A month of free family activities including weaving, felting, doodling and drumming.

EXETER QUAY

Spork! summer special

THURSDAY 31 JULY TO THURSDAY 14 AUGUST 2025

Theatre in the Park

Exeter Phoenix hosts an al fresco summer theatre season featuring Shakespeare, spoken-word poetry, puppetry and physical comedy.

ROUGEMONT GARDENS

Three Acres And A Cow production still

SATURDAY 2 AUGUST 2025

Three Acres And A Cow

A history of land rights and protest in England told in folk song, story and poetry.

SIDWELL STREET METHODIST CHURCH