Labour cave to Lib Dem pressure over Citizens Advice funding

Exeter’s Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners are celebrating after the City Council’s Labour administration confirm they will restore funding to the city’s Citizens Advice funding.

A report published by the City Council ahead of an Executive meeting on Tuesday 23rd June indicates that cabinet members will vote to award a grant to the service of £150,000 over the next two years.

This follows the Labour administration previously slashing funding for Citizens Advice from £200,000 in 2022/23 to £75,000 in 2023/24, before ending it entirely in February 2024.

Citizens Advice in Exeter provides free, independent, impartial, and confidential advice to tens of thousands of residents across the city on many different issues. Since Labour ended their funding, Citizens Advice reported having to cut costs and find new income streams to continue providing this crucial service.

Exeter’s Liberal Democrat councillors have led the fight to stop and reverse these cuts. In February 2025, the party put forward an amendment to the Council’s budget that would have stopped the ending of funding, though this was voted down by Labour councillors along party lines.

The Lib Dems also made the restoration of funding for Citizens Advice a key element of their 2026 City Council election campaign, which saw the party increase their overall vote share across the city, and gain a seat in St Loyes from the Conservatives.

Cllr Michael Mitchell, Lib Dem Group Leader on Exeter City Council, said: “I am pleased to see that thanks to the pressure put on them by the Lib Dems, Labour have finally seen sense and agreed to reverse these cruel cuts to Citizens Advice. We were strongly against these cuts from the moment they were announced, and have fought tirelessly to make Labour change course and put people in Exeter first.

“In the report, Council Officers admit that not restoring this funding would ‘create a risk to broad local advice services in the city’. Given this, we believe that the Labour administration should now answer why they pushed through the cut in the first place.”

Cllr Kevin Mitchell, newly re-elected Lib Dem Councillor for Duryard & St James added: “From speaking to many hundreds of residents across my ward and the city during this year’s elections, the strength of feeling about these cuts was clear. I am relieved that this funding has now been restored so that residents across the city will be able to continue receiving the help they need.”

Charlotte FitzGerald, Liberal Democrat candidate for the Exmouth & Exeter East constituency at the next General Election said: “This is really good news for people across Pinhoe, St Loyes and Topsham. Exeter was the only Devon District Council that had withdrawn its funding for Citizens Advice.

“This news is also proof of how hard Liberal Democrat councillors work for their communities. We are fighting for a fair deal for everyone across Exeter and East Devon, and have the strong record of action to prove it.”

Will Aczel, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Exeter, added: "Through speaking with hundreds of Exeter residents on their doorsteps, it was clear how shocked and disappointed people were at Labour's decision to end all direct funding for Exeter Citizens Advice. Their services are vital, front-line, and pay for themselves several times over.

"I'm relieved our campaign has succeeded to restore £150,000 key funding for Citizens Advice Exeter in these uncertain and challenging times. This will mean residents across the city can continue to access crucial assistance."