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The latest data collated by Citizens Advice Guernsey shows that housing continues to be the leading cause of worry for the majority of people seeking help from the charity.
A fifth of all enquiries - from a total of 3,500 clients - related to housing concerns.
Housing has been the leading cause of concern for CAB clients for the past four years with more than 2,000 people asking for help during each of those years.
The second leading cause for concern over the four years has been 'Law and Rights' which during 2023 reached a peak of 2.046 queries.
Nearly 3,500 clients made contact with Citizens Advice Guernsey during 2023 - some of those made one enquiry while others made more.
This was 10% down on the number of queries for 2022 - which CAG says "was anticipated" because it had reduced its hours by 10% "due to the reduced availability of our advisers".
The charity said the number of clients it helped "still represent a sizeable proportion of Guernsey’s 25,2891 households" with its statistics providing "an interesting barometer of the social issues concerning islanders".
The 3,500 clients contacting CAG last year made a combined 10,849 queries covering Housing (2,279 queries), Law and Rights (2,046), Work (1,509), Debt and Money (1,168), Family (1,418), Consumer (1,142), Health (663), Benefits (312), Tax (159), Local Leisure (49), Immigration (47), Discrimination (36), and Education (21).
Housing, Law and Rights, Work, and Family have been among the most sought after areas for support over the past four years - while in 2020 Health and Debt and Money were also in high demand as a result of the covid pandemic's impact on life.
Pictured: The number of queries within each sector recorded over the past four years.
CAG says "the numbers of enquiries for each area are broadly similar to previous years" but the charity did notice one anomaly which it was surprised by.
Despite the ongoing cost of living crisis, with high rates asked for rental properties, fuel and food both costing more than a few years ago, and other associated price increases, there was a 28% reduction in the number of Debt & Money enquiries in 2023 compared to 2022.
"We believe this could, in part, be due to the introduction of the Lending, Credit and Finance (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2022 which came in to force on 1 July 2023," said CAG.
The below graph shows that many of the enquiry areas are pretty static over the course of the four years reported - with 'Debt and Money' fluctuating the most between 2020 and 2021, 2021 and 2022, and 2022 and 2023.
Pictured: The number of queries within each sector recorded has varied over the past four years.
Health has seen the largest drop in the number of enquiries since 2020.
During the first year of the global covid pandemic - when the Bailiwick entered lockdown in March with reported cases of the virus increasing quickly and steadily - there were 1,244 approaches to CAG for help on health related matters. That dropped to 920 during the second year of the pandemic, then dropped further to 859 during 2022 and reduced again to 663 during 2023.
Enquiries related to Health will be about a variety of matters - all of which will be kept confidential by the CAG team who work directly with the client.
At the start of each year the CAG team - made up of volunteers working alongside paid staff - select the Social Policy areas the charity will focus on.
These are based on the prevalence of issues raised by clients, as well as the standard social policies the charity gathers data on, in line with Citizens Advice UK membership requirements.
Last year saw CAG complete reports on: Access to Affordable Housing, Employment Rights, Consumer Issues, Private Tenancies – Leases, Discrimination & Harassment, Domestic Abuse, No Employment Contract, and Homelessness.
These reports are disseminated among relevant States Committees, and other relevant organisations and stakeholders, including third sector organisations, and often the media to raise public awareness.
During 2024, the CAG Research & Campaigns team will be working on reports focused on ‘Difficulty Accessing States Departments’, ‘Guest Workers’, ‘Rising Energy Costs’, and ‘Mental Health’.
The data collated will be shared with relevant States Committees, and other relevant organisations and stakeholders, along with the media where suitable.
Data relating to other social policy areas not highlighted as a focus area for 2024 will also be reported on in due course and/or by request to CAG.
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