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Welfare Rights Advice in Difficult Times

Welfare Rights Advice in Difficult Times. Neath Port Talbot Welfare Rights Unit. Why Welfare Rights??. “can’t the DWP be relied on to ensure that everyone gets the money they are entitled to?” “Is this an appropriate service for the Local Authority to be offering?”. Why Welfare Rights??.

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Welfare Rights Advice in Difficult Times

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  1. Welfare Rights Advice in Difficult Times Neath Port Talbot Welfare Rights Unit

  2. Why Welfare Rights?? • “can’t the DWP be relied on to ensure that everyone gets the money they are entitled to?” • “Is this an appropriate service for the Local Authority to be offering?”

  3. Why Welfare Rights?? • In these difficult times it is not enough to show that a Welfare Rights Unit has an extremely beneficial effect on local people. • It is a question of proving your worth to the Council as well!

  4. Welfare Rights Unit role • Independent advice and advocacy role – increasingly important due to remote call centres in DWP • Holistic income maximisation service including 1st and Upper Tier appeal representation and debt advice • CLS Quality Mark

  5. Second Tier Work • Provide comprehensive training to strategic staff of the Authority and partner organisations. • Ensure that up to date information is disseminated to appropriate people. • Preventative work that enables the LA to make savings eg. Reducing rent arrears.

  6. Strategically targeted work • Work strategically to the specific aims of the LA and WAG. • This can result in savings to the LA as well as extra income for families eg. Sheltered housing/extra care accommodation, Warm Wales, Communities First.

  7. Not a Statutory Service? • The LA does have some duties to give benefit/financial advice to service users • Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 – contains a duty to provide information to clients • LA Social Services Act 1970 – WAG fairer charging guidance requires LA to ensure benefit advice available from staff.

  8. Not a Statutory Service? • Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 – a duty to help care leavers including appropriate benefits advice • Courts consider whether benefits advice has been offered to tenants facing repossession • WAG have indicated a strong policy intention on action for child poverty to include financial advice.

  9. Welfare Rights Service • Strategically a Welfare Rights income maximisation service can have a big impact on some of the LA’s aims eg. Health, Social Care and Wellbeing strategy, Children and Young Person’s plan, WAG proposals on child poverty and Communities First • Also more local schemes such as extra care, domiciliary care, Adult Family Placement.

  10. Income Generation • One of the main objectives of the Welfare Rights Unit • Benefits not only the individual but the wider community • Multiplier effect in the local community – subject of economic research in the past. • Every £1 million raised in benefits supports a certain number of jobs in local small businesses.

  11. Income Generation • Extra benefits gained for domiciliary care service users is likely to lead to extra income for LA • Adult Family Placement and Independent Living Fund also show how changes in benefits received can save money on services provided by LA.

  12. Low Take Up of Benefits • Welfare Rights work is a good way to transfer money from Central Government to local areas. • A Welfare Rights worker will cost LA around £35,000 but will raise benefits to the level of approximately £400,000.

  13. LA Budget Settlement • This is favourably affected by the numbers of people in receipt of certain benefits – eg. Income Support, Pension Credit, Disability Living Allowance. • NPT has a particularly high proportion of recipients of DLA – partly due to the work of the unit. This should mean the LA will receive a more favourable settlement than may otherwise have been the case.

  14. NPT Welfare Rights Unit • Benefits raised in excess of £4 million in current financial year. • Open case load of 1000 • January 2010 represented at 31 appeal tribunals

  15. NPT Welfare Rights Unit • Training – over the years we have developed and promoted our training programme to external agencies • Places are either available on our own training programme or we tailor make courses which can be delivered in house to a variety of agencies • These are mainly other LA’s with no Welfare Rights provision or supported housing providers.

  16. Training and NVQ’s • A new departure for the Welfare Rights Unit • Now able to offer the NVQ in Advice and Guidance at Levels 2, 3 & 4 to both internal and external candidates.

  17. Consultancy role • We have developed good partnership working arrangements with a number of voluntary sector agencies. • We provide support and supervision for benefit workers within these organisations.

  18. Specific Projects • Communities First Welfare Rights Project – a recent successful bid to the Outcomes Fund was made with the support of Communities First Central Support Team and all the Communities First Partnerships. Bid was for 2 Welfare Rights/Debt Advisers, 1 trainee Welfare Rights Officer and 0.5 Admin post – Welfare Rights Unit to provide match funding in kind via supervision etc.

  19. Scottish Power Energy People Trust • Scottish Power Energy People Trust funds not-for-profit groups that help people whose lives are affected by fuel poverty • Funded by Scottish Power and voluntary donations from independant suporters • Types of funding granted – Income maximisation, Crisis funding, Energy efficiency • Decisions to award funding are decided by a board of trustees

  20. Application Form • Application form asks for information on your – • Organisation Objectives • Project Title and description • Target group helped and why • Timetable & Milestones • Geographic Area • Amount of funding being requested • Total project costs • How remainder of project will be funded • Description of how grant funding will be used • Expected number of vulnerable people/households helped • Period of time funding will be used

  21. Fuelling kids – Project Description • To raise awareness and maximise benefit income amongst families most at risk of fuel poverty • To work in partnership with schools and Communities First areas to ensure maximum take-up of free school meals, alongside benefit checks and advice on energy efficiency, social tariffs and debt • Being present at school events such as parents evenings, parent/teacher association events, school fetes, sports days etc to promote help available • To take on case work in Welfare Benefits (up to appeal representation) and debt

  22. Fuelling Kids • Project was awarded £72,000 over 2 years • The project was launched in May 2009 • Stats • Current cases opened – 171 • Closed cases – 66 • Pending - 105 Amount raised so far - £244,526.70 Projected amount on pending cases - £389,019.75 Average of £3704.00 per case

  23. Macmillan Welfare Rights Officer • 1 full time Welfare Rights Officer and part time admin support. • Works in partnership with Macmillan, NPT and local Cancer Support Centre - Y Rhosyn. • Launch of the post was in March 2009 at Y Rhosyn and has been publicised in the press and via posters at hospitals.

  24. Three Year Projectinitially with the expectation that it would attract further funding from partner organisations!!! • Macmillan research shows that those with a cancer diagnosis experience financial difficulties very quickly. • Runs surgeries in Y Rhosyn as well as home visits as required to those with a diagnosis of cancer.

  25. Referrals are taken from a range of professionals namely Specialist Nurses, District Nurses, Y Rhosyn and from members of the public • Assist with benefit claims and debt advice. • As a Macmillan Welfare Rights Officer able to access their grants and also assist in accessing other charitable organisations for grants.

  26. Macmillan Update • To date have assisted 137 clients to access over £490,000 in benefits. • 82 Macmillan Grants have been submitted and only 4 have been unsuccessful. • Total monies raised through Macmillan Grants is £29,240 and this has been for a range of items such as help with heating costs, clothing, bedding and specialist items such as recliner chairs and beds.

  27. What next? • CLACs/CLANs – dead duck?? What about new contracts? • Quality Marks – what are they worth? • Training for staff – NVQ’s/ NOS • Development issues – where do we see the future

  28. Any other ideas! • If anybody has any other ideas of how to promote Welfare Rights services and fund their future – please share it with us!

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