Local Campaigning Do you feel that answering national Calls for Evidence is a waste of time?

1. Local CampaigningDo you feel that answering national Calls for Evidence is a waste of time? Why is local campaigning so important today? How can we together make a positive impact ?

2. Agenda for Change “ I think it’s the biggest change since Beveridge introduced the welfare system” Iain Duncan Smith 5th November 2010 talking about universal benefit s • Social housing under occupancy reforms • Localisation of Council Tax Support • Introduction of Local Assistance Scheme • Universal Credit, including • “Digital by default” • One monthly payment • DLA replaced by Personal Independence Payments

3. Impact on our Clients • Increased levels of hardship and debt • More debt management cases • More Local Assistance Scheme claims • More need for food banks • Housing issues • Arrears in rent and mortgage costs • Affordable housing harder to find • Increased evictions and homelessness • Knock on impact on relationships, family, mental health issues

4. What can we do? • At a national level, we can continue to report the impact of these changes • Use Welfare Reform Benefit Loss AIC’s • BEF’s • We can continue to provide help, support, advice to our clients • As powers are devolved we have an opportunity to make a real difference locally • We plan to achieve this in three ways: • Local Focus • Evidence • Building influential relationships

5. Building our Leadership CA Waverley Social Policy Team will identify issues with local relevance and campaign on issues with local relevance • Norman Davies – Social Policy Team Leader • SP Coordinators and Campaigners • Catherine Hobden, Godalming • Sue Finlay, Mo Palmer and Ian Chappell, Cranleigh • Denise Liscombe and Jim Munro, Farnham • A vacancy at Haslemere • Joanna Booth, • Advice Managers • Chris Tibbott, SP Trustee Quiz question:Who have we missed?

6. Evidence - The Key to Persuasion • Solid evidence is the key to making a difference. We are entirely reliant on Advisers and AMs to gather this evidence. Our credibility to allow us to work collaboratively with Waverley Borough Council, other bureaux and charities locally depends on the evidence we produce • The SP team will issue regular Local Calls for Evidence which will guide advisers on what evidence we need. Each AM will regularly include this Local Call for Evidence as part of their staff briefing. • As with the national system, please include the words in bold in your BEF title. Petra has a tab for local SP activity which should be used with each BEF • These local BEFS will be reviewed and actioned locally by the SP Team. We also intend to respond to each adviser – your BEF will not just disappear “into the ether!”

7. Building Influential Relationships • The current relationship with WBC is developing in scope and quality: • Working with WBC is a fundamental part of the Service Level Agreement • We have some useful forums in place already with WBC groups • Executive Team • Welfare Reform • Housing Options, Rent Accounts, Benefits Team • Recent input into Council Tax Support, Discretionary Housing Payments and establishment of shadowing programme • Working as a team, CA Waverley can be a powerful influence locally for the good of our clients

8. A Recent Example • The SP team wanted to highlight the issue that some clients will not be able to access and manage Universal Credit online: • A simple client questionnaire was developed, with advisers across Waverley asking clients to complete the questionnaire. Other bureaux in SW Surrey joined our survey, giving 635 replies • Analysis shows that 32.7% of those currently claiming benefits will be unable to claim UC online without support • We are raising the size/nature of this issue with Waverley BC. • Through initiatives such as this, we demonstrate that we understand the issues involved in UC and can influence its implementation positively