Agenda item

To consider the annual update on Citizens’ Advice Bureau activity in the borough.

39.1          The Chair welcomed the representative from North and West Gloucestershire Citizens’ Advice to the meeting. Members were reminded that Tewkesbury Borough Council had a service level agreement with Citizens’ Advice which had been in place for a number of years and it awarded a grant on an annual basis for the services provided to residents. The Committee received an annual presentation which provided Members with information about the work of Citizens’ Advice and quarterly reports giving more detail were provided via the Member Update Sheet with the most recent having been issued the previous week.

39.2          The representative from North and West Gloucestershire Citizens’ Advice explained that things had changed considerably since his last presentation to the Committee and the service had been renamed as ‘North and West Gloucestershire Citizens’ Advice’ to reflect a merge with Forest of Dean District.  The service now covered Cheltenham, Forest of Dean, Gloucester and Tewkesbury which gave more scope for residents to obtain information from different locations, for example, someone who lived in Tewkesbury may work in Cheltenham or Gloucester so they could seek advice in that location during the working day.  It was noted that the reporting structure had also changed for 2019/20 and he advised that 236 Tewkesbury residents had been seen in other districts during the first quarter compared with only 27 in 2018/19.  He went on to give a presentation reflecting the work undertaken in 2018/19 which covered the following key points:

·           Aims – To provide the advice people need for the problems they face; to improve policies and practices that affect people’s lives.

·           Principles - The Citizens’ Advice service provided free, confidential, independent and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities.  It valued diversity, promoted equality and challenged discrimination.

·           Locations – Citizens’ Advice now operated from 15 locations: Tewkesbury Public Services Centre; Prior’s Park; Bishop’s Cleeve; Winchcombe – by appointment; Brockworth – by appointment; Northway – this was a new outreach centre; Churchdown – this was a new outreach centre; Cheltenham (town centre); Up Hatherley; Gloucester (city centre); Cinderford; Coleford; Lydney; Newent; St Briavels. 

·           How advice is requested – Majority still wanted face to face, approximately 80% of all contact, 10/12% via phone, online not popular; face to face was a more expensive method of giving advice but was the preferred option for the people using the service.

·           Employment Status - Employed - 31.6% (33.4% previous year); self-employed – 4.5% (5.1% previous year); carers – 7% (7.7% previous year); retired – 20.5% (21.7% previous year); unemployed – 16.4% (14.7% previous year); and permanently sick – 19.9% (17.4% previous year).  This was fairly consistent with the previous year, albeit with a slight reduction in the number of employed people seeking assistance and a corresponding increase in the number of unemployed people using the service; the types of issues people had tended to reflect the employment profile status.

·           Disposable Monthly Income – Under £999 – 54% (52.7% previous year); £1,000-£1,499 – 24.3% (23.8% previous year); £1,500-£1,999 – 10.5% (12.8% previous year); and over £2,000 – 11.2% (10.7% previous year).  The number of people in work and claiming benefits was rising and there was an increase in people seeking advice for issues with Universal Credit.

·           Disabilities - Physical disability – 10.9% (8.7% previous year); mental illness – 8.3% (9.1% previous year); long term health issues – 30.8% (22.2% previous year). 

·           Issues dealt with – 3,167 in 2018/19 compared with 3,002 in 2017/18. Welfare benefits – 781 (837 previous year which included 30 in relation to Universal Credit); Universal Credit – 147; debt – 729 (668 previous year); employment – 308 (321 previous year); relationships – 288 (282 previous year); and housing – 246 (242 previous year).  Issues around Universal Credit had increased dramatically compared to the previous year and debt was still a major problem across the county with the average debt of the people using Citizens’ Advice being £12-13,000 per household.

·           Significant issues during the year – Tribunal hearings; housing – repairs to private lettings; impact of rent caps and Universal Credit on Registered Social Landlords; employment practices; increase in complex cases.  Tribunal hearings remained a major issue as 75-80% of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applications were unsuccessful and fewer than 10% of decisions were overturned by the Department for Work and Pensions following mandatory reconsideration; Citizens’ Advice assisted with tribunal hearings in terms of collating documentation and making representation on behalf of its clients; legislation set out that a hearing date would be within 13 weeks but this had been as long as 62 weeks in Gloucestershire at one point; this had been reduced to around 40-50 weeks following lobbying of MPs which had resulted in the appointment of an additional Judge but this was still an extremely long wait for people who were not receiving benefit during that time.

·           Case Study A – 41 year old female with heroin addiction (in recovery) suffering from back pain and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who had previously resorted to prostitution to fund her habit; failed work capability assessment, Employment Support Allowance ceased, forced to claim Universal Credit; claimant commitment resulted in methadone replacement and support group programme disrupted; started using again and likely to return to prostitution; strongly worded appeal submitted stating catastrophic effect on her health, decision changed within weeks avoiding a possible year long delay in appeal being heard.

·           Case Study B – Couple with 11 year old son with dwarfism and little fine motor control in his hands, in need of care with all aspects of living; lost Disability Living Allowance at assessment therefore Carers Allowance (paid to mother) also ceased and tax credits reduced; successfully appealed the decision, Disability Living Allowance awarded, Carers Allowance (to mother) reinstated, tax credits increased, resulted in family income increase by £13,042 per annum.

·           Case Study C – Husband in an elderly couple suffering from COPD and Crohn’s disease, wife acts as carer, living in rented accommodation and in receipt of state and occupational pensions; following a stroke the wife was left partially sighted and with balance problems; Early Discharge Stroke Nurse referred the couple to Citizens’ Advice; successfully applied for Attendance Allowance for husband and wife, switched energy supplier saving approximately £150 per annum, installed new radiators following discussion with landlord and successfully applied for a blue badge.

·           Achievements 2018/19 – Merger with Forest of Dean Citizens’ Advice; opened outreach at Northway and Churchdown.

·           Future Plans 2019/20 – Outreach at Cheltenham Oncology Unit (now opened) funded by Clinical Commissioning Group; extend specialist services; establish Help to Claim service – government-funded service, working with Department for Work and Pensions.

·           Definitions:

-               Financial capability – knowledge, skill, motivation, awareness and                    confidence in relation to money management.

-              Financial exclusion – individuals cannot access the financial products and services they need which means those that could least afford to do so would end up paying more for their basic needs.

-              Financial inclusion – access to appropriate financial products and services allowing people to effectively manage their money, regardless of their level of income or social status.

39.3          A Member queried whether Citizens’ Advice did any outreach in rural Parishes.  The representative from North and West Gloucestershire Citizens’ Advice indicated that outreach was only in the 15 locations specified; however, consideration would be given to new locations provided there was sufficient demand for at least a half day service.  He indicated that the outreach at Northway and Churchdown had opened as a result of engagement with Tewkesbury Borough Council Officers who were able to make suggestions as to where need might be.  It was noted that Citizens’ Advice offered a home visit service if clients were unable to get to one of the offices due to health problems etc.  With regard to a query as to whether Trading Standards were responsive to queries, the representative from North and West Gloucestershire Citizens’ Advice advised that this was not an organisation Citizens’ Advice had a lot of dealings with on a local basis other than referring clients who dealt with them directly.

39.4          A Member pointed out that the Ward boundaries in Tewkesbury Borough had recently changed and he questioned whether this would skew the figures in terms of the number of clients seeking advice in different areas.  In response, the representative from North and West Gloucestershire Citizens’ Advice confirmed that the reporting structure for 2019/20 had been changed to reflect that and they had stopped making comparisons with previous years based on Wards as this now had little meaning due to the changes.  He provided assurance that the Economic and Community Development Manager and his team were able to give feedback about where Citizens’ Advice activity should be focused so they would react to any reduction or increase in users of the service in different locations as appropriate.  The Member questioned whether the Council’s Key Performance Indicator in respect of the total number of people assisted within the borough by Citizens’ Advice would change going forward and the Economic and Community Development Manager confirmed that the report which had been circulated to Members on quarter one of 2019/20 had reflected the changes and the information included in the Performance Tracker would be updated accordingly going forward. 

39.5          The Deputy Chief Executive advised that he was joint chair of the Financial Inclusion Partnership, together with the representative from North and West Gloucestershire Citizens’ Advice, and they would both be at the Locality and Financial Inclusion Partnership Showcase Event at the Public Services Centre on 3 October 2019 to which all Members had been invited.  He encouraged them to drop-in if they had any specific Ward issues or required any additional information.  The Chair thanked the representative from North and West Gloucestershire Citizens’ Advice for his presentation and it was

RESOLVED          That the Citizens’ Advice presentation be NOTED.