Whoever you are, whatever the problem
Research and Campaigns
Working for change
We are the leading information, advice and guidance organisation across the city region. We help people with tens of thousands of problems each year. This gives us a unique insight into the challenges people are facing across Greater Manchester, and it gives us a wealth of evidence to try and fix the underlying causes of these problems.
We use this insight to change policy and practices at a local, regional and national level.
For regular updates on our policy work, visit our Medium page, sign up for our newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Bluesky.
Current Priorities- 2025
Please note that this will be added to throughout the year.
Living Standards
Building on last year’s work to highlight negative budgets and advocate for measures like raising LHA, reducing UC deductions, and targeted energy bill support, we will push for further actions to protect those most impacted by the living standards crisis.
Furnished Social Housing in Greater Manchester
Partnering with GMCA and End Furniture Poverty, we aim to increase access to furnished social housing in Greater Manchester from 2% to 10%, leveraging GM-wide data and case studies to drive change.
Temporary Accommodation in Greater Manchester
Addressing the challenges of rehoming vulnerable individuals outside their local authority areas, we are gathering evidence to highlight issues such as loss of support networks, disputes over responsibility between LAs, and unsuitable housing offers leading to homelessness.
Additional Awareness Campaigns
In addition to policy work, we run campaigns to raise awareness of issues like scams, energy saving, and consumer rights.
The national research areas
Welfare benefits is our largest advice area, giving us clear insights into the way the system works and the challenges it poses.
Covers regulated and unregulated markets allowing us to identify problems and draw comparisons about policies and practices.
Debt and money policy research
Citizens Advice helps hundreds of thousands of people with debt and money problems each year giving us insight into how we can prevent money problems and help people to recover.
Covers all housing tenures, highlighting problems and providing solutions to help everyone have a safe and secure place to live.
Our employment queries give us an understanding of how the labour market is changing and the consequences for workers’ lives.