CITIZENS ADVICE BRENTWOOD
ANNUAL REPORT
For the year ended 31 March 2017
Tel: 03444 770808
www.brentwoodcab.org.uk
We aim to:
• provide the advice people need for the problems they face
• improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives We value diversity, promote equality and challenge
discrimination.
One of our key aims is to make sure we continually develop and modernise our services to meet our clients’ needs and expectations.
Vision, mission and values
Vision
Everyone will be able to access free advice to find a way forward.
Mission
We provide free, confidential advice to help people overcome their problems and campaign on big issues when their voices need to be heard.
Values
Responsible: We’re informed and honest
Generous: We’re compassionate and collaborative Inventive: We’re problem-solving and forward-thinking
OUR AIMS AND VALUES
Citizens Advice first opened in Brentwood in The Hermitage in 1959 and is a long-standing member of The National Association of Citizens Advice, membership number 65/0015.
Like all other centres, Citizens Advice Brentwood is a registered charity (number 1098171) and relies on its own funds and trained volunteers to provide vital services to local communities. The services which are available within Brentwood and the surrounding villages and parishes, help people resolve their legal, financial, benefits, social and other problems. Citizens Advice values diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination.
How can you help?
Please sponsor the provision of our services by giving money to help pay for a specialist adviser (£6,000) or quality assessor (£3,000) or train a volunteer (£2,000) or assessor (£500) or maybe fund a project/event. Alternatively, make a donation for essential equipment or services or maintenance of our premises (£1,000 contribution). Charitable gifts are tax effective for companies and donations from individual UK tax payers can be Gift Aided and if you are a higher rate tax payer you can also claim extra relief personally.
You can also remember Citizens Advice Brentwood in your will.
Legacy gifts are exempt from Inheritance Tax so the full value of your gift will go straight to the Centre.
Please contact Richard McLeod, Manager, Citizens Advice Brentwood, 8-12, Crown Street, Brentwood CM14 4BA or telephone 01277 227019 for further information or to arrange sponsorship or make a donation.
SUMMARISED FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Summarised Financial Information for the year ended 31 March 2017
Notes to the summarised financial information
In 2009/10 and subsequently, income was adjusted to reflect the beneficial level of rent charged on the Crown Street premises, and pro bono accounting services. Expenditure has been accordingly adjusted to reflect the market cost of those expenses.
The information above has been extracted from unaudited accounts and management information available to the Centre.
Income and Expenditure 2015/16
Actual
£’000
2016/17 Actual
£’000
2017/18 Budget
£’000 Income
Grants from County and Borough Councils Lottery and Advice Services Grants Project grants, advice surgeries etc
Friends of CAB, donations and other fundraising activities Total Income
70.1 42.1 26.7 36.7 175.6
67.6 60.5 19.2 31.2 178.5
67.6 35.4 16.3 14.0 133.3 Expenditure
Salaries, overtime and project related staff costs Rent, utilities and other office running costs Citizens Advice and other costs
Total Expenditure
123.9 42.1 9.8 175.8
105.5 31.9 20.7 158.1
86.3 31.0 16.7 134.0 Surplus / (Deficit)
Fund balances
Fund balances at the beginning of the year
Fund balances at the end of the year (actual/budgeted)
(0.2)
51.7 51.5
20.4
51.5 71.9
(0.7)
71.9 71.2
Citizens Advice Brentwood faces a prolonged period of extensive and far reaching change. The board agreed to sign up to the new Citizens Advice membership agreement which incorporates a “One Service Strategy” and came into effect on 1 April 2017. It is aimed at meeting the increasing demands and requirements of today’s clients and will be achieved by working together to improve the quality of advice provided, making our services more widely and readily available (particularly using telephone and digital communications), becoming more influential locally and nationally, being a stronger champion of equality and becoming more sustainable.
A new performance and quality framework is now in operation and Brentwood, like other advice centres across the network, has to meet targets and key performance indicators (KPIs). The KPIs are audited regularly which will enable clients, the board, funders and regulators to be assured that we are well run, delivering high-quality, value for money services. Sanctions will be taken against those centres that do not meet the required standards and help given to those that need it to retain membership of Citizens Advice.
To achieve the demanding targets we will need more people with the right skills and capabilities. More detailed analysis, audits and reporting will be required and more trained advisers with the right aptitudes, particularly to handle digital communication systems.
At the same time our financial position and prospects for the future are of concern.
A welcome surplus of £20,000 was achieved in 2016/17, after a number of years of deficits, and this has given a much needed boost to replenish the trust’s reserves which have been used to maintain access to services during a difficult operating period. However, as an independent charitable trust it continues to be a struggle to secure sufficient income to meet our expected operating costs and for investment in training and equipment. The outlook for new and additional funding in the future is worrying. Big Lottery funding, our second largest source of income currently, comes to an end in September 2018.
The Board has, therefore identified that the sustainability of the centre is a priority and has discussed possible alternatives.
These involve collaborating with other Citizens Advice centres including sharing services and resources and being better placed to bid for funds and contracts. Sustainability will be an ongoing issue and our reviews will continue in order to make any decisions necessary before the end of the year.
CHAIR’S REPORT
Chair - Geoff Morgan
Our objective will be to ensure that we have a soundly based, high performing and well financed structure with a secure future to meet the advice needs of Brentwood and surrounding areas working in conjunction with a wider Citizens Advice network.
Targets for Citizens Advice Brentwood are reflected in our latest three year business plan set by the board which include:
• collaborating with other advice centres to deliver services
• reducing running costs
• maximising income
• Improving the range, depth and quality of services provided
• improving and extending digital and telephone services
• providing greater access, especially to young and older clients
• attracting, training and retaining more volunteers
• introducing a fast track, high quality training process
The centre’s progress and achievements during 2016/17 are included in the Manager’s Report and elsewhere in this annual report.
During the year there have been some 11,600 client engagements.
It is noticeable that there is an increase in the complexity of the problems that clients seek assistance with which need more knowledge, skill and time to resolve. The biggest area of requests continues to be benefits (36%), followed by housing (13%), employment (11%), debt (10%) and relationships (9%).
Continued demand for benefits advice is expected as the effects of the role out of Universal Credit are experienced further.
During the year we accepted an invitation from Brentwood Borough Council to locate advisers at the Town Hall on specified days to provide onsite access to clients, as well as Housing and Benefits staff, to facilitate quicker assistance to help resolve problems.
There has been an ongoing dialogue with the Council to move some or all of Citizens Advice Brentwood to the Town Hall to join a proposed Community Hub, part of the Town Hall Development Plan now planned for autumn 2019. There are many pros and cons to consider, not least the terms and costs involved, and the Board awaits a firm proposal to consider. Meanwhile, our occupation and delivery of services continues from Crown Street and other outreach locations such as at the Ford offices.
I want to thank sincerely our funders and supporters. Without them we would not be able to function and I request their and others renewed support for the future. We need more resources and greater capabilities if we are to meet successfully the challenges we face.
Most of all I want to thank the Manager, Richard McLeod for his resourceful leadership of the team of staff and volunteers and for his and their dedication and commitment. Pauline Emberson, Deputy Manager is an enthusiastic guide for the busy front office.
Overall their work is inspirational and without their determination and commitment we would not have been able to serve Brentwood and the wider community as we have done.
I want to record my thanks to Greg Nottage and Cllr Cliff Poppy, who stepped down as trustees during the year, for all their contributions to the Board. They will be missed.
I wish Ivan Armstrong a full recovery and return to fitness following his hospitalisation and operation and want to thank all the Trustees for their unreserved support and contributions for the progress and success of Brentwood Citizens Advice. Finally, thanks to Luke Cully, who is a non-voting representative of the volunteers and adds a different and most beneficial perspective to our meetings. I am most grateful to all for their time and resourcefulness.
Geoff Morgan Chair
Looking ahead
Looking ahead, our three year business strategy includes:
• collaborating with other advice centres to deliver services
• reducing running costs
• maximising income
• Improving the range, depth and quality of services provided
• improving and extending digital and telephone services
• providing greater access, especially to young and older clients
• attracting, training and retaining more volunteers
• introducing a fast track, high quality training process
It has been difficult to meet our targets this year and we are always dependent on obtaining extra funding to meet needs. We are exploring ways to work collaboratively with other advice centres and partners to reduce our overheads and meet the increasing levels of support needed to provide an accessible, quality assured service with increasing demand.
Examples of this are the sharing of a fast track training programme with Chelmsford and subsequently the sharing of our trainer.
We are also sharing our rota system technology with Basildon.
We will be exploring other initiatives in the new financial year.
This year has seen an increase in Housing and Employment issues.
Benefit issues have remained high, which is the effect of the introduction of Universal Credit and changes in the whole of the benefits system.
Change
The new Citizens Advice service membership agreement is now implemented. This has an impact on how we work with the central organisation with standardised financial and quality reporting and feedback collection.
What has changed in Brentwood?
Access to Quality Advice:
Webchat
We continue to provide support that enables users to contact us using their mobile smart phones. The system also includes an online enquiry system for responses that can be replied to later when the online system is less busy.
Telephone Advice
We have expanded our collaborative Advice-line group to ten Essex advice centres and will now have Key Performance Indicator targets.
Quality of Advice
We are now part of a rigorous Quality of Advice audit conducted every quarter. This involves selecting a random sample of cases every month and scoring them for accuracy and customer service.
The samples for a quarter are reviewed by a Citizens Advice auditor and the level of score is checked and compared with the centre’s score. The results are published on a traffic light system with a requirement to take various remedial actions if not green.
Progress is then monitored until the level is corrected.
MANAGER’S REPORT
Manager - Richard McLeod
Client issues 2016-2017
% Issues across Brentwood districts 2016-17 Home visits in 2016-17 Projects
We are in the fourth year of our Big Lottery funded Reaching Communities specialist advice services for Debt and Benefits.
This provides a local telephone number for Brentwood people to access the service. The project finishes in September 2018 so we will need to plan for other funding in the next year.
Ford Motor Company
We are pleased to continue to provide the weekly lunchtime advice sessions to Ford Motor Company employees (funded by Employee Development Assistance Program), at their Warley and Dunton sites. They are well attended and we thank Ford for their continued support.
The current projects are:
A home visiting contract with Essex County Council supported by twelve Essex advice centres and managed by Brentwood.
(The project was renewed in May 2016)
A fast-track training project to skill volunteers in the digital advice mediums of webchat, email and Advice-line telephone.
The Healthier Homes project to provide advice and assistance on the best energy provision.
Going forward
We are continuing to work with Brentwood Borough Council on a collaborative project with Job Centre Plus/DWP and the Housing and Revenue Departments to provide an advice centre in the reception area of the Town Hall.
Richard McLeod - Manager
ALEX BURGHART
MP FOR BRENTWOOD & ONGAR
Visits our Crown Street office, with the Manager, staff and volunteers.
RESEARCH & CAMPAIGNS
Citizens Advice Brentwood collects evidence on issues affecting local people, which are fed as anonymous data to our national organisation. In addition to giving each issue a code, we also send details of the experiences of local individuals, where this highlights an issue and the impact that it has on their lives.
Consequently, Citizens Advice nationally holds a huge amount of insight and data about the problems our clients and the wider community faces. They use this information to do several things:
• To research issues further, by running campaigns across the network
• To influence decision makers to change policies and practices by monitoring which policies are working and spotting emerging problems early
• To campaign to get decision makers to change policies and practices, through Parliamentary briefings and to provide evidence to Select Committees. These briefings provide information for debates and give Parliamentarians regular updates on their policy work.
The evidence collected locally provides an insight into the issues affecting the residents of Brentwood.
Of particular interest at the moment are the problems our clients are experiencing as a result of the difficulties in the administration of benefits locally. It is becoming increasingly difficult for clients and the centre, to contact anyone in these organisations to resolve problems within a reasonable time scale. This can result in the client having rent arrears, going into debt and having to use the Food Bank, etc.
These problems are particularly relevant currently with the introduction of a full digital service for Universal Credit being introduced to the Borough in November.
All Universal Credit claimants will be expected to apply on line.
Those who would have difficulties can call the helpline, but this is a 0345 number which can be very expensive if you do not have access to a land-line. Recently one of our clients was charged £19 by her mobile provider to call Job Centre Plus to discuss a problem.
Our national organisation is campaigning at the moment...
• to reduce how long clients have to wait for their first payment (it can be up to 12 weeks),
• to remove the 7 waiting days at the start of their claim and
• to improve the support available to clients by, for example, having a helpline that is free of charge.
Another worrying issue is the current lack of provision for the homeless. Brentwood Borough Council finds it very difficult to provide any local accommodation for Priority homeless families.
For non-priority single people of all ages, there have increasingly been times when we have been unable to find accommodation for them anywhere in Essex and clients end up staying a few nights at a time, passing from one friend to another, or sleeping in their car.
Linda Martin
Research & Campaigns Co-ordinator
St af f & V olu nt eer s
MEMBERS OF THE BRENTWOOD TEAM
CASE STUDIES
Benefit - Case Study B
Client B, a male of working age and a single parent, with one dependent child, attended the centre for help with making an appeal against the non-payment of Employment Support Allowance (ESA) after the failure of a recent medical examination. The client had been claiming a sickness benefit for a number of years. Prior to making this claim he had been working and claiming Working and Child Tax Credits.
Part of the specialist advice process is to check that the client is receiving the benefits they are entitled to. As his ESA had been stopped after the medical he was claiming Jobseekers Allowance along with Child Benefit for his school age daughter.
When it was asked if he was claiming Child Tax Credit (CTC) for his daughter he replied he was not.
On checking with HMRC it appears that when he was unable to work at all due to his disability, he was informed that his Tax Credits would stop. This is the normal process for a change of circumstances. He was unaware that he could still claim CTC for his school age daughter. HMRC would have followed this claim with an Annual Review letter and at a later date a Statement of Account of payments previously made. Neither of these letters were received by the client despite them having been sent to the correct address.
The client lived in a house which was occupied by multiple tenants where all post for the property was left on a table in the hall. It could have been that his correspondence had been taken by another tenant and then, instead of being passed on, destroyed. Thus he did not have a prompt about the possibility of claiming further tax credits for his daughter.
This client would have missed out on his entitlement to this benefit for several years and the amount lost would have amounted to several thousand pounds. A young child would have been deprived of basic necessities as the benefit is worth approximately £2,800 per year. The benefit is now being claimed successfully.
Emma Daly, Benefits Advice Specialist
Benefit - Case Study A
Client A is a single woman, living in rented accommodation, who suffers from a serious, chronic health condition, which led to her becoming disabled because of severe pain.
She had been claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and had been called for a routine medical. In this medical, claimants need to score at least 15 points to qualify for benefit.
Unfortunately, the client had only scored zero, so an appointment was made for her. She had asked the DWP to look at their decision again but they had failed to overturn their decision.
When she came to her appointment, her Housing Benefit had also stopped as The Council receive notification when a benefit is withdrawn.
Our initial call was to Brentwood Council who asked the client to come in to sign a zero income statement. This was done later that day and The Council promptly resumed payment of Housing Benefit and assistance towards Council Tax.
We needed to take the ESA medical decision to a Tribunal Hearing for the client with an appeal. A case was made by gathering medical evidence and referring to the ESA descriptors.
This was submitted and an appeal date was lodged. The client was able to take a family member with her and it was found that she did indeed meet the criteria for ESA and furthermore was placed into the highest group - The Support Group.
A subsequent claim for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) was successful, whereby enhanced Daily Living and standard rate mobility were awarded. This, in turn, entitled the client to receive further premiums on her benefit.
Having a disability meant extra costs for the client. For instance, she could not use public transport and had to use taxis. The extra income and receiving her ESA and disability benefits allowed her to afford these extra costs. Now that she is a client we are able to help her with any further problems.
Dot Avis, Benefits Advice Specialist
Debt - Case Study C
Client C, was living alone with complex mental health issues arising from a domestic violence issue about seven years ago.
At first she received some support visits as a fugitive from violence but these ceased after a few years. Though unable to work she had survived on her modest benefit income until large bills were presented by the companies providing water and sewage services. The customer service departments of these companies had denied her requests for special assistance and were asking her to accept recovery payment plans that exceeded her ability to pay.
We worked with this client on a more complete calculation of her living expenses which proved she met the guidelines for special assistance. We also studied the bills presented and detected that a water meter had been unread for two years making her last water/sewage consumption period look like that of a unusually high user. We prepared letters and financial status documents for the client to send which resulted in her admission to the low-income tariff schemes of both companies; this will firstly stabilise our client’s budget and secondly will lead to cancellation of the arrears after two years of affordable payments.
Peter Slater
Money Advice Case Worker
Geoff Morgan (Chair) - Elected 20/9/2011
Born in Manchester, Geoff graduated in Psychology and Sociology from Sheffield University. He started as a graduate trainee with Ford Motor Company working in employee relations before moving to the City where he became Vice President, Personnel for JP Morgan, the US investment bank, then Director of Personnel and Support Services for Lloyds Merchant Bank and finally Director of Human Resources and Property Services for Lloyd’s of London. A Fellow of the CIPD he is a former member of the Insurance Industry Training Council. Now retired, he is a governor of Havering College of Further and Higher Education and was a governor of St Martin’s School and a former Chairman of the Board. A Freeman of the City of London, a Past Master of a City of London livery company and a member of a City Guild he is an active member of a number of local service clubs. Married to Liz, they have lived in Brentwood for more than 45 years and have 2 adult children and 5 grandchildren.
Ivan Armstrong (Vice Chair) - Elected 3/7/2007
Ivan was born in Tynemouth and was educated at Tynemouth High School and Sheffield University, where he read Law. He worked for Barclays Bank for 33 years, becoming responsible for company rescue and debt recovery. After retiring from Barclays in 2002, he trained in Adult Learner Support and in 2004 joined the Legal Services Commission as a contracts and project manager, retiring from there in 2007. Ivan is a member of Brentwood a Becket Rotary Club and Hutton & Shenfield ex-Round Tablers’ Club, a business mentor for the Princes Trust and was a Volunteer at London 2012 Olympics. He lives in Hutton and is married with two children.
Stuart Freel – Elected 20/9/2011
Born in Glasgow, Stuart was educated in Yorkshire at Ilkley Grammar School and Hull College of Higher Education where he took a degree in Education. He has worked in education and children’s services for more than 30 years, initially as a teacher in Harrow and Hertfordshire and subsequently in the Schools and Children’s Departments of Barking and Dagenham, Hertfordshire and Thurrock in a variety of management roles rising to Executive Head of Resources and then Acting Deputy Director of Children’s Services followed by a period in educational consultancy for local authorities, specialising in academy development. He is a former Trustee of the British Diabetic Association and served as a board member of the European Region of the International Diabetes Federation. In 2017 he became a trustee and Treasurer/Secretary of the Mayors’ Community Trust Fund of Brentwood. A school governor, Stuart lives in Ingrave and is married to Tricia, with 2 adult sons and 4 grandchildren.
TRUSTEE PROFILES
Maria Thompson – Elected 20/9/2011
Maria was born in Hull but has spent most of her working life living and working in the London area. She attended the University of Bath where she gained a degree in languages. Her early career was in business development and marketing working for companies such as BHP, Avon and Moulinex. She then moved into education and completed her Masters in Marketing while working at Hull College as the Head of the Business Management Faculty. Maria has worked at Havering College of Further and Higher Education for more than 16 years, initially as Director of Business and Management, was promoted to Vice Principal, Curriculum, then became Deputy Principal of the College with special responsibility for employer engagement and skills and has now been appointed as the Principal and Chief Executive. Maria lives in Upminster with her husband, Steve. She is a keen gardener and football fan holding a season ticket for Dagenham and Redbridge Football Club.
Philip Cunliffe-Jones - Appointed 17/12/15
Philip was born in Shipley, West Yorkshire and educated at Silcoates School Wakefield, where he won an Open Exhibition in Modern Languages at St. John’s College, Oxford. After graduating he was articled at Plymouth City Council and qualified as a Solicitor.
While at Plymouth he was Secretary of Plymouth Arts Centre.
He worked at a City firm after qualification, winning the City of London and Holborn Law Society Prize in 1974, before becoming Head of Legal at the newly constituted District of Epping Forest, which amalgamated four predecessor authorities. After 21 years, during which he appeared in over 150 planning inquiries and also secured Charity Commission consent to a scheme for the Grange Farm Centre Trust, he became a Property and Regeneration Solicitor at Haringey Council with responsibilities for the Seven Sisters New Deal for Communities, Voluntary Sector Agencies and the Haringey Building Preservation Trust. Philip has worked for 8 local authorities, remains a member of the Law Society but no longer practises as a Solicitor. He is married to Gill with two adult children and has lived in Brentwood since March 1987.
Tina Davis - Appointed 17/12/2015
Tina was born in Adelaide, Australia and was educated at Dagenham Priory High School and the Open University, where she studied Business Management. She worked for the Royal Mail Group for over 37 years, holding various senior management positions including becoming responsible for Managing and Quality Assurance of change Projects and Programmes. An example was London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Post Office Limited responsibilities. After retiring from the Post Office in 2015, she spends her time continuing to volunteer for Girl Guiding UK at local and division level. She lives in Brentwood and is married with two children. Her pastimes include holidaying and walking activities.
Trustees:
Geoff Morgan (Chair)
Ivan Armstrong (Vice Chair)
Philip Cunliffe-Jones
Tina Davis
Stuart Freel
Cllr Cliff Poppy
Cllr Louise Rowlands Maria Thompson
Treasurer:
Ivan Armstrong
Secretary:
Richard McLeod
Minutes Secretary:
Margaret Odden
Accountants:
Rickard Luckin Chartered Accountants Aquilla House
Waterloo Lane Chelmsford Essex CM1 1BN
Bankers:
Unity Trust Bank Nine Brindley Place Birmingham B1 2HB
Charity No.
1098171
Company No.
4670256
LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
How to contact us:
In person 8-12, Crown Street
(off Brentwood High Street) Brentwood CM14 4BA
Drop-in system opening hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10.00am to 4.00pm Wednesday 1.00pm to 4.00pm
On the 4th Thursday of every month 11.00am to 5.00pm Telephone:
03444 770808 Fax: 01277 264999
Email:
[email protected] Websites:
www.essexcab.org.uk
(to submit an enquiry)
www.brentwoodcab.org.uk
(for information)
HERE TO HELP
Manager Richard McLeod Deputy Manager/
Advice Supervisor Pauline Emberson Advice Session Supervisor/
Benefits Specialist Dot Avis
Benefits Advice Specialist Emma Daly
Benefits Consultant Linda Martin Outreach Adviser Joy Baker Money Advice Case Worker Peter Slater Housing Specialist Christine Steele Training Supervisor Sarah Rose
Project Assistant/Admin Janet McLeod
Administrative Volunteers Sylvia Gladen Jean James
Campaigns & Research Co-ordinator
Linda Martin Volunteer Advice Session Supervisors Joy Baker
Luke Cully Pat Dillon Geoff Doll Sue Gwynne Susan Kortlandt Jacqui Perry Helen Rees-Jones Volunteer Advisers Jenny Cody
Alex Hakim Roger Harste Janet Howson John Jones David King Valerie Morgan Kash Pandya Helen Smith David Taylor Jenny Townshend
Gateway Assessors David Bradley Dave Clark Ann Copas David Fellows Alan Jones Alan Kingsford Helen Kingsford Margaret McKerchar Jill Merrifield Steve Pavitt Paul Ring Ray Rouse Receptionists Paula Clifford Melinda Dawson Nicola Jackson Jane Leacy Helen Scasbrook Janice Tucker Wendy Winterman
Trainees Pamila Bhullar Christopher Chandler Tracy Gibbons Pauline Living
Stanislous Madzikanda Amy Mowett-Stanton Pat Gray
David Powell Office Cleaner Georgina Draycott I.T. Support
Essex Computers Ltd
Thanks to our supporters for sponsoring this report and making it possible.
Designed by Havering College of Further & Higher Education.
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citizensadvice.org.uk
Registered Charity Number 1098171 Company Registration Number 4670256
