Citizens Advice (CA) is a national association of individual Citizens Advice Bureaux. (CAB) Operating since 1939, its Aims are:
To provide the advice people need for the problems they face
To improve the policies and practices that affect peoples lives Nowadays, approximately half this country’s population use a
Citizens Advice bureau at some point in their lives.
CA tries to make use of the experiences of clients to change social policy. In each bureau, a mix of paid and volunteer workers provide up-to-the-minute advice and, when appropriate, practical help; writing letters, filling out
forms, negotiating with creditors and even representing clients at
Tribunals.
Berwick Citizens Advice Bureau is a registered charity and, since 1st July 2009, a limited company. It was established in 1977, first in Berwickshire in Scotland, and moved into Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1985.
Our Bureau is a member of the Citizens Advice service and aims to provide free, independent, confidential and impartial advice. It values diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination.
Within resources, the Bureau aims to provide advice to everybody, regardless of race, disability, sex, gender, sexuality, nationality or religion.
Berwick-upon-Tweed is the largest settlement for thirty miles in any direction. Almost 25% of the population of the area is of pension age, compared to a UK average of 18%.
Whilst unemployment is relatively low, the average weekly wage, at
£321, is the lowest in the country (£386 in Blyth, £433 in
Northumberland). As a result, many people in Berwick have two, or even three, jobs.
Affordable housing is scarce; in some villages, the percentage of second and holiday homes is amongst the highest in England.
Last year the average house price in this area was thirteen times our average annual wage.
AIMS
AND PRINCIPLES
WORKING IN BERWICK
“Professional, friendly, I believe the bureau
could solve any
“Very professional, easy to talk to
and helpful staff”
“I was happy with the service I was given and treated with respect”
Berwick CAB currently has 13 paid members of staff.
An additional 18 volunteer workers, usually each giving one to two days per week (totalling about 136 hours per week between them) include Advisors, Trainers, Social Policy Workers,
Receptionists and Administration Workers.
The eight volunteer Trustees manage the resources, monitor our service and set the strategic direction and framework of the Bureau for the management to implement.
The Bureau and our clients benefit as does every volunteer; whether from helping others, gaining work experience or becoming more involved with the community.
The market value of volunteer time last year was £97,000.
Our paid staff frequently work many more hours than they are paid for; sometimes working with us is more vocation than job.
We provide training for all roles within Berwick CAB, including Trustees. The most rigorous is for Trainee advisers, taking up to eighteen months to complete.
Nationally 36% of CAB volunteers leave in order to take up paid work or further education.
Although we struggle to recruit and retain Volunteer Advisors, we do have a small mainstay that has been with us for several years.
Late last year, with the credit- crunch, demand for Bureau services increased dramatically, with clients often needing support to guide them through the
minefield of ever-changing legislation.
By December 2008, we had a noticeable increase in employment and housing issues. The overall number of client problems was up twenty percent. Regrettably, we had too few advisers, too few interview rooms and needed additional office space.
By March 2009, the Bureau had to close the Drop-in session at 1pm on most days. During this period, a local company approached us requesting the provision of advice to their employees. Again,
regrettably, we had insufficient resources to provide this service.
WHO WE ARE
CORE
SERVICE
“Very helpful, honest, impartial
Also known as the ‘Legal Aid Service’.
Eighteen months ago, the Legal Services Commission moved from funding based on the actual
amount of work we carry out for clients, paid in advance, to fixed fees, paid in arrears, after cases have closed. However, the Bureau now has, at any one time,
approximately £29,000 worth of work-in-progress awaiting
payment. This subsidises the LSC and has an obvious negative effect on our cash flow.
Every day, our advisers see the devastating impact money
problems can have on families and individuals, particularly on
relationships and health.
Debt work usually consists of helping clients calculate the full extent of their liability related to their available income. Advisers can then negotiate with creditors or apply for an Administration Order through the County Court.
In some cases, they assist clients to apply for bankruptcy.
From April 2009, Debt Relief Orders have also been available to some bureau clients. This is a cheaper and more straightforward form of insolvency, designed to give those eligible the opportunity to apply for an order that will eventually lead to their debts being fully discharged, after one year.
It seems clear that debt work is going to increase.
The Bureau continues to deliver the County Court Duty Scheme every second week in Berwick, helping anyone with a rent or mortgage repossession case.
LEGAL
SERVICES COMMISSION
LSC MONEY ADVICE
“Found adviser very
approachable, friendly, non- judgemental, down to earth
“High standard of service at all
“Took a great weight off my
QUOTES
The ‘callouts’ on each page are taken from client’s comments on feed-back forms received during the
Benefits advice is the most requested topic – constituting more than 40% of all new client contacts. The constant changes to the benefits system make it
impenetrable to many. In addition, some of those changes have led to waiting times of up to forty-five minutes for phone enquiries made to some government offices. Our advisers have had to fight
government inefficiencies, even turning if necessary to
Ombudsmen and a client’s MP, for further help.
On a positive note, 80% of all our welfare benefit cases had an income gain for the client. The average welfare benefit case costs us £242.57 to deliver, against the fixed fee of only £164.
The Bureau continues to provide a welfare benefits service for cancer patients. During the year, 69 new clients were assisted by the part time caseworker; 27 in-Bureau and 42 by one or more Home Visits.
The worker has gained
£121,359.00 in State benefits and Macmillan grants for our clients.
Since October 2008, we have been providing a Macmillan outreach at Berwick Hospice.
Berwick CAB, along with other bureaux in Northumberland, is now seeking funding to continue this vital service beyond when the current funding ends, in two-years time.
LSC WELFARE BENEFITS
MACMILLAN SERVICE
CASE STUDY
Client asked about benefit entitlement after wife died.
He is carer for their adult child. Adviser identified he should be getting
Bereavement payments and other benefits, also that the adult child should have been receiving £17.50 per week Income Support which was subsequently backdated for the maximum of 3 months.
“I was getting nowhere till you stepped
“Have told all my
friends to come to
the CAB”
This is a five-year project, funded by the Big Lottery, to deliver advice at four weekly outreach sessions targeting migrants, older people and people with disabilities.
During this, the second year, the adviser recorded 782 client contacts and there were 193 occasions on which significant help was given, with a total of £40,510 being gained for our clients in this area.
Of those contacts referred to above, 24% were Migrant Workers.
Additionally, Berwick Migrant Support Group has been meeting in Tweedmouth every
Wednesday. As part of the outreach project, our Bureau has supported nine other groups that work with migrants.
The way we have worked in this area, now known as ‘The Berwick
Model’, has been recognised regionally as a beacon of good practice.
“You explained everything clearly
This unique pilot project, funded by The Northern Rock
Foundation, has assisted approximately 100 new clients during the past year. These activities lead to a ‘Meeting of Minds’ Bereavement Conference held in Berwick in November 2008 and attended by up to eighty health professionals, registrars, funeral directors and other interested parties.
In addition to the advice given to individuals, several social policy issues have been identified. For example: disproportionately lengthy waiting times for benefits to be reinstated to partners, poorly worded correspondence from government departments and the non-receipt of
Bereavement Payments for some clients, even though this should be automatic.
Recently, clients have voiced particular confusion and upset by tax demands following
bereavement. We have also noticed a fear of applying for probate in person, which is actually relatively easy, when an estate is uncomplicated.
Funding for this well-used service ended in August 2009 and the line has now been closed.
OUTREACH
SERVICE BEREAVEMENT ADVICE LINE
“I could not have received a
better service”
The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is one of the principal providers of funds for our money advice
service, through the national Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF).
Unlike the ‘Legal Aid’ contracts (see previous pages), this is open to all, but principally targets those who have priority debts; housing, utility and council tax arrears, victims of high-interest credit, or those on low incomes.
More than 200 new FIF clients were seen in 2008/09 and, in total, our two Money Advice Workers assisted clients with £2.5 million of debt, up 49% on 2007.
This pilot project ran for three months from January 2009 and altogether, seventy-two clients were assisted with various issues in the following proportions:
Benefits 50%
Employment 18%
Debt 13%
Housing 7%
Relationships 4%
Utilities 2%.
FINANCIAL
INCLUSION SURE START PILOT
CASE STUDY
Client walked nine miles to the bureau as he had no money to live on.
It took the adviser 45
minutes to get through to the Crisis Loan telephone line and an application was only successful after the adviser complained to a manager in the Social Fund.
The adviser was tied up with the case for a whole day but the client eventually received
“Help I had was first-
“Continue to fight all the
injustices in the
“I was pleased that a
friend suggested I came to
This is part of the Government’s
£10 million funding-boost to allow many CAB to extend their
opening hours during the year to help with issues caused by the recession.
A new Bureau Mentor was appointed on 1st April to help deliver an out-of-hours advice service and to train more
volunteer advisers, allowing us to offer appointments to clients who would previously have had to queue for our usual drop-in
sessions
During the past year, Berwick CAB has continued to research outcomes with three different groups of clients: Outreach, Housing and Sure Start.
We investigated perceptions of the clients in terms of:
the help they received
their boosted confidence
their subsequent peace of mind
their understanding of the
‘system’
any health changes
any relationship developments
their worries
their satisfaction with our service
We are happy to report that some of the practical outcomes were between 80 and 100%
positive.
INDIVIDUAL SATISFACTION MONITORING
ADDITIONAL HOURS
ADVICE
CASE STUDY
Client is a lone parent who has disabilities living on
£130 per week.
Following contact with the bureau the client was awarded DLA and a subsequent increase in income support more than doubling the family’s income.
“Your service is excellent, no improvement needed”
“Staff were very friendly and helpful, not intimidating”
“Efficient and friendly service”
Citizens Advice Bureaux are widely known for giving advice, but are perhaps less known for their social policy work, aimed at improving the policies and
practices that affect peoples lives.
Whenever Berwick CAB Advisers identify an injustice that could have implications for a wider number of people, they submit a Bureau Evidence Form to the National Association’s Social Policy Department. In the past year, they have submitted no less than 162. The largest percentage of problems highlighted were with the Department for Work and Pensions, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and utility
companies.
In addition, our Bureau participated in a number of
national and regional campaigns, as well as taking up issues at a local level.
National campaigns have included:
access to National Health dentists, closure of local Post Offices and education costs (such as uniforms or school trips).
We have also been looking at ways of including clients more directly in this social policy work.
The Bureau now has an eye- catching poster to alert clients to this aspect of our work. We have recently instigated a Bureau Bulletin newsletter for the waiting room.
Whilst advice may benefit an individual client, it is more
effective in the long run to help as many people as possible by
persuading the policy maker to make changes in the areas causing persistent problems.
SOCIAL POLICY &
CAMPAIGNS
CASE STUDY
Client is pensioner and been paying off debt since 1996.
So far a total of £1,760.
Client has forgotten what she was paying for but knew it was a purchase from Comet.
Discovered it was for a tumble drier, which cost about £200 new.
Letter from debt collector says sum outstanding still
£2,081 - client now receiving help from bureau to get debt
“Advisers are very knowledgeable and helped enormously”
“The service you provide is
In 2008/09 the Bureau assisted 1,933 new clients with 2,377 enquiries, which was up 23% on the previous year; 8% of these clients were migrants, mostly from the new European countries. The work of the Bureau not only includes the provision of one-off legal advice, but also on-going casework; we carried out 6.2%
more casework in 2007/08.
During the year, the Bureau brought a confirmed £1,345,000 into the Borough in the form of additional welfare benefits, lump sums and compensation payments.
Research shows the majority of this money will be spent in this locality, thus supporting the local economy.
Demand for our services is greater than we can supply, and there are occasions when we cannot see all the people who wish to see us.
We were successful in finding funding from Berwick Borough Housing for a much-needed electronic information kiosk for our waiting room. Potential clients, or anyone using the
Centre, can look up information for themselves, either prior to an interview, or to enable them to solve their problem.
This year we have also
introduced volunteer receptionist roles to ease the pressure on advisers.
Uniquely among advice agencies, CA Bureaux are rigorously audited on their quality of advice.
Only one percent of bureaux get a score in excess of ninety percent;
Berwick CAB’s ninety-six percent score is one of the highest in the country!
The business and fund-raising side of the Bureau is becoming vast and ever more complicated. Cost for staff and core services, such as premises, IT, administration, management, volunteer expenses and travel, all rise steadily year on year. Regrettably, too many funding sources will pay only for the specific costs associated with their projects, without
contributing towards the
infrastructure that is essential for their project to be implemented.
For 2009/10 we had a predicted deficit of £38,000. This is now reduced to £29,000; and fundraising continues.
As Trustees of a charity, the members of the Management Committee need to ensure that there is sufficient funding to keep the service open. The actual cost of closing the Bureau in May 2009 was calculated to be £21,397, up
£3, 000 on the previous year. The Trustees review this figure every six months.
CASES, COSTS
& CASH
“Supportive
and helpful
reassurance
always”
The Bureau exists in a time of great change and uncertainty.
These include; the move to a unitary authority, the need to re- bid for Legal Services Commission contracts in 2010 and the danger that they may be awarded
elsewhere, increased demand for the Bureau’s services, combined with ever more complex changes to legislation; all challenges that we must overcome.
Many of our clients face similar challenges; enquiries regarding redundancy, reduction in working hours, debt and eviction are all on the increase locally.
Meeting these needs, with trained volunteer advisers, becomes harder as the commitment and dedication required from potential volunteers, increases. Already many find that, as their
circumstances change, they have to give up volunteering before they can complete the eighteen- month-long training period.
Funding for the work of the Bureau will inevitably become harder to secure, given the reduction in income from charitable trusts, such as The Northern Rock Foundation, Lloyds’s TSB etc. During the next few years, charitable funds will be in greater demand at the very time available resources become ever more scarce.
The future of advice is changing;
becoming a more competitive part of the voluntary sector. Some large national organisations see financial opportunities to bid for major local contracts dealing with just one or two parts of a
problem, rather than seeing client issues as a whole.
The challenge we face is to increase our resources and depth of coverage to match the growing demand for service.
The need is here and now;
Berwick-upon-Tweed has the lowest earnings in the country.
Nationally, £1.8 billion in Council Tax Benefit is going unclaimed each year. Approximately one-and -a-half million children live below the poverty line in households that are paying full council tax; they and their parents are missing-out on benefits worth an average of
£700 per year, for want of a little advice.
We have to keep trying. For example, in November 2008 we made an application to The Northern Rock Foundation to increase the take up of welfare benefits by older people, a need we identified over the past two years. We received a telephone assessment in March 2009, and a successful decision made in May 2009 resulted in three years funding for this much-needed project.
