Truro and Falmouth MP Sarah Newton has welcomed the news that from 2013 the Citizens Advice service will take on an additional role, as the national voice for consumers.

The Service is formed of a network of 450 Citizens Advice Bureaux, based in over 3700 cities and towns across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Historicallythe service, manned by nearly 24,000 volunteers led by 6,700 paid staff, has helped members of the public resolve a range of problems, from housing matters to debt issues.

The expertise of Citizen’s Advice in dealing with consumer issues has now been formally recognised; from 2013 Citizens Advice will take on responsibility for consumer advocacy, education and empowerment from Consumer Focus and the Office of Fair Trading.

In advance of the 2013 handover of responsibility the Citizens Advice service now offers consumer information and advice over the telephone and through their website. From 2013 the service will operate Consumer Empowerment Partnerships (CEPs) to provide local leadership in consumer protection and empowerment.

CEPs will be net¬works of advice givers and campaigners working together to ensure that people can get advice and information, can access education programmes and can report and hear about scams, rogue traders and local issues and can participate in activities to tackle these issues.

Sarah, who is vice chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Citizens’ Advice, said: "I am pleased that the Government has recognised the expertise of the Citizen’s Advice service, and has taken steps to ensure that this expertise plays its part in the creation of national voice for consumers.

"I know from my own constituency mailbag and regular advice surgeries the extent to which such a national voice is needed, and how important it is to ensure that members of the public have easy access to such a consumer body.

"I look forward to working with the Citizens Advice service as they develop this new role further, and to doing what I can to ensure that Cornwall’s hard working Citizens Advice volunteers have the resources they need to meet the added demand that this new role will bring.’’ The Citizens Advice Service in Cornwall can be contacted on 08444 994188, the national Citizens Advice website, which contains guidance on a range of issues, can be accessed through www.citizensadvice.org.uk.