Citizens advice chiefs quit over report criticism

11:00am Thursday 30th October 2008

By Jeremy Small

NINE trustees at York Citizens Advice Bureau (YCAB) have quit after an inquiry recommended they apologise to 28 former volunteers.

The independent probe was launched after the volunteers quit the city’s advice centre claiming one of their colleagues had been forced to leave YCAB on May 14 over allegations of harassment and bullying.

The review, which was commissioned by Citizens Advice, was led by John Stoker, a former chief charity commissioner for England and Wales.

The report stated the situation at YCAB before and after the volunteer was asked to leave constituted “a failure of management”, and that there was a “shortcoming in governance”.

The report recommended the volunteers who withdrew their services should receive an apology and be invited to return.

It also recommended the trustees, who are unpaid governors, and management of YCAB give a commitment to ensuring that two-way communication between managers and staff was “fundamentally improved”.

Former YCAB volunteer Ellen Bradbury today said it was likely that a significant proportion of the volunteers would now return to work at the office.

Ms Bradbury today said: “From the outset, we believed that our colleague’s dismissal was a gross injustice and a violation of all the principles which Citizens Advice seeks to support and uphold.

“We could not stand by and let it pass, even though it meant fighting our own managers, and we are delighted that justice has been done and he has now been completely exonerated.”

A spokesman for the Citizens Advice Bureau said the trustee who has remained became one very recently and “doesn’t feel he’s in the same boat.”

He said the director of YCAB resigned on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the trustees who have quit said: “It is with great regret and sadness that after many years of conscientious voluntary service we have taken the difficult and collective decision to step down from our positions as trustees of York CAB.

“This has been a difficult time for us all. We always acted on advice and what we believed to be in the best interests of the bureau.

“We hope that the bureau can continue in its work meeting the needs of local people.”

She said new trustees had been co-opted on to the committee, and that they would continue as the management committee.

Shani Fancett, director of membership services for Citizens Advice, said it hoped the implementation of the review’s recommendations would allow all those involved to move forward to ensure the people of York “continue to receive the services that they need”.

“Crucially, this report highlights not only what went wrong in York, but also how it can be put right.

“I am confident that by accepting John Stoker’s recommendations we can draw a line under this unfortunate episode and work together to build a service in York of which we can all be proud.”