Referrers Guide
Does your client need advice?
Citizens Advice and other providers of Accredited, Quality Assured and Professionally Delivered Advice provide extensive self-help information for people who can safely act for themselves. However, some problems carry legal, financial, housing, employment, immigration, welfare or safety risks that mean self-help is not enough.
This tool helps social prescribers, housing officers, tenancy sustainment teams, voluntary sector partners and other frontline staff decide whether to use self-help, signposting, supported signposting or referral.
Why Accredited, Quality Assured advice matters
Advice on money, housing, benefits, debt, employment, immigration, family safety and employment rights can directly affect health and wellbeing because these issues shape the wider determinants of health.
What this Tool does
It helps non-specialist partners decide whether they are safely providing preparation support, whether signposting is enough, or whether the person needs an active referral into Accredited, Quality Assured and Professionally Delivered Advice.
Use the triage tool
Choose the topic first. The tool will then reveal the risk questions that apply to that advice area.
Background Papers and Source Material
The guidance is intended to sit alongside local referral arrangements and internal governance. The following background papers, reports and source materials should be reviewed when maintaining or approving the tool.
Core background papers and advice quality
- National Association of Link Workers and Citizens Advice: Exploring social prescribing referrals and impact on information, advice and guidance services, May 2023
- Advice Services Alliance: About the Advice Quality Standard
- Advice Services Alliance: The Advice Quality Standard
- Recognising Excellence: Advice Quality Standard Version 4: The Quality Framework Requirements, April 2023
- Citizens Advice: Feedback and complaints
- Citizens Advice: public self-help information and local advice routes
Regulatory and specialist source material
- Financial Conduct Authority: Apply to become a not-for-profit debt advice firm
- FCA Handbook CONC 8: Debt advice
- GOV.UK: Get free debt advice
- GOV.UK: Options for dealing with your debts
- GOV.UK: Immigration Advice Authority
- GOV.UK: Find an immigration adviser
- GOV.UK: Working with immigration advisers — caseworker guidance
- ACAS: Employment tribunal time limits
- ACAS: How early conciliation works
- Shelter England: Housing advice
- Shelter England: Eviction advice