North East Derbyshire CAB

Annual Review 2011-12

“A Year of Innovation”

North East Derbyshire Citizens Advice Bureau is a company limited in England and Wales with company number 5933725 North East Derbyshire Citizens Advice Bureau is a member of Citizens Advice, membership number 45/0015 Charity Registration Number 1118194 From the Chair From the Chief Executive Judy Derricott

2011/2012 has been a very busy year which has This year as usual has been a busy one but it has seen a great deal of change within and outside of also been an exciting 12 months. the bureau. We are committed to ensuring that our services are accessible to and meet the needs of Like others in the Community and Voluntary sector all communities within Bolsover and North East we have suffered in another round of funding cuts Derbyshire. This has been further realised over the but we acknowledge it could have been much past year with the development of an online debt worse and we are pleased to say we haven’t had resource and the opening of the new Clay Cross to face any redundancies. assessment centre. Against this background we have looked to North East Derbyshire Citizens Advice Bureau is a consolidate our services whilst looking to think Charity dependent upon funding from a variety of ‘outside the box’ to make advice available to as sources as outlined within this annual report. I many local people as possible. raise this as not many people are aware of our Charitable status. The future funding environment The number of people looking for help regarding will be a challenging one, the trustee board and debt continues to rise and this with the complexity management are working to maintain and grow the of the problems meant we had to address the service in these uncertain financial times. We are issue. We acknowledged that we had to ensure committed to provide a quality service and con- that those who needed face to face help with a tinue to be innovative in our approach. case would always have access to a specialist caseworker. However many others could deal with Last but not least a huge thank you to all who work their situation as long as they had access to the for and with our bureau – our Volunteers/Staff/ required information and procedures. We Trustee Board and partners both nationally and therefore developed a web based debt resource locally. where people could either use it themselves or with some support from us. Details of the resource are contained elsewhere in this report. Other Some Headline Statistics agencies including other CAB have asked if we This year could personalise the system for them.

Another piece of innovation has been our ‘advice We dealt with 24,939 enquiries (a 12.5% increase in the community’ which has been developed over last year) alongside our information kiosks which can be

found in a range of community settings. The We assisted in rescheduling almost £11.2 million kiosks have proved popular over the year with over of debt 26,000 pages being accessed. Other

organisations have asked about purchasing kiosks We helped local people claim £3.1 million in but are put off by the price. We have now though benefits/tax credits developed kiosks based on Ipads and more details

of these are included in this report. They have 175,576 pages have been viewed on our website proved well in trials and we have interest from www.nedcab.org.uk others and hope to shortly have a number of these

across the County. 26,623 pages have been viewed via our information kiosks Our other major piece of work is our new

assessment centre in Clay Cross, described by In the first 6 months of our new debt resource Citizen’s Advice Network Director who opened the www.mymoney.nedcab.org.uk centre as ‘tomorrows CAB here today’. Again

details of the centre will be found elsewhere in this • 172 people have signed up to use the system report.

• 63 have completed the process and sent out Of course all this work and change needs good offer letters to creditors team work and I would like to record my thanks to

the Board, staff (paid and unpaid) and everyone • Over £2 million of debt have been entered else who has had a part to play. into this resource Our Partners

North East Derbyshire District Council @nedDC Our core funder for our work in North East Derbyshire.

Bolsover District Council @BolsoverDC Our core funder for our work in Bolsover.

Derbyshire County Council @Derbyshirecc Partnerships Providing funding for our Income Maximisation project working with families. Whoever you are, whatever the problem, Citizens Advice Bureau: NHS Derbyshire County Providing funding for our work in GP practices which  Provides the advice people need helps combat poverty and health inequalities. for the problems they face

 Improves the policies and Macmillan Cancer @macmillancancer practices that affect people’s Providing funding to provide advice to cancer lives sufferers, their carers and families.

 Offers free, independent, confidential and impartial advice Royal British Legion @PoppyLegion Providing funding to work with service personnel,  Values diversity, promotes ex-service personnel and their families. equality and challenges discrimination RAF Benevolent Fund @RAFBF In conjunction with Royal British Legion. To enable us to help local people with their problems we are reliant on our funders so we have our Advice Derbyshire @AdviceDerbys premises to work from, provide the We are a founder member of Advice Derbyshire. support that our great team of volunteers need, to employ specialist advisers in debt and welfare rights and be able to offer East Midlands Money Advice advice in such a wide range of This is the East Midlands face-to-face debt advice outreaches. funded by B.I.S.

So we acknowledge and thank our Bolsover Financial Inclusion Team major partners listed here. We have a seconded debt caseworker as part of the BFI partnership.

Derbyshire Probation Trust Working in partnership to provide debt and benefit advice to offenders and ex-offenders.

Financial Inclusion Derbyshire We are a partner in the Financial Inclusion Derbyshire partnership

CABx3 We are looking at working together with partners Chesterfield CAB and South Derbyshire CAB. mymoney.nedcab.org.uk is a free debt guide and resource (including an online Debt Management Plan) developed and maintained by North East Derbyshire Citizens Advice Bureau (NEDCAB).

The content was developed by utilising the many years of experience and knowledge of our debt team, other advice specialists and staff at the bureau. The coding of the website was all written solely by the bureau I.T co-ordinator.

The website went live on 12th January 2012, and is already proving to be an invaluable tool for the bureau and our clients with over 50,000 page views in this short time.

172 people have already signed up to use the Debt Management Plan section of the site, with 63 of those having completed the Financial Statement and sent out Offer Letters.

So far, over £2 million of debt have been entered into the system.

In May the website won the “Best New Initiative” award from the Institute of Money Advisers.

We have also introduced a dedicated Debt Enquiry line open for residents of North East Derbyshire and Bolsover Districts.

In addition, our main bureau website www.nedcab.org.uk continues to be busier than ever with a further 175,576 page views (up 21% on last year) from 54,582 visits (up 20%).

We have also recently launched a new consumer website in partnership with Derbyshire Dales, Amber Valley and Erewash CAB and Derbyshire Trading Standards at www.derbyshireconsumerhub.info CAB Instant is our new assessment centre right in the centre of Clay Cross by the bus station.

It is a new building with lots of glass so it is very light and airy and has a very welcoming feel to it. To keep with the modern and bright looks we had state of the art glass partitioning installed which has really added to the user experience of the centre.

The whole idea of the centre is to assess a client’s problem and decide on the best way of dealing with it. This could be a basic piece of information, an appointment with a generalist adviser or a specialist debt/welfare rights caseworker. If necessary we could arrange an appointment with an appropriate outside agency.

Assessment Interview Signposting

Information Referral Caseworker Advice Appointment

Appointment Now

This will enable us to concentrate our resources on those who need additional support due to a client’s specific needs and/or complex issues. #CABlive In March 2012 we joined with 17 other CABx around the country to tweet as much about what we do in an average week as possible using the hashtag #CABlive.

Everything we Tweeted that week can be seen on our website at www.nedcab.org.uk/cablive.asp

This is still only a part of what we do as we weren't always able to get information from our many outreaches and busy advisers but we hope it gives you an idea of the range and amount of enquiries we deal with every week of the year.

NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Getting ready for #CABlive Adviser just received referral regarding mental health issues and debt

NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Two clients at risk of redundancy and Polish national with British passport wanted advice on procedures and assisted to obtain pension credit compensation NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Client requested advice regarding the Two Debt Relief Order applications payment of CSA and parental rights approved in time for the rule change NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB today. Client needs assistance with

NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB possession hearing in one week

Advisor has returned from tribunal. NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Client successfully awarded DLA high Debt client referred to Rethink for rate mobility. Client very pleased. support with ongoing mental health NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB issues Food parcel given to client while NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB awaiting benefits appeal to be lodged. Two debt client assisted with Client assisted to complete DLA completing bankruptcy forms. renewal for high rate mobility and care. NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Client says first renewal in 9 years. Client needed assistance regarding NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB employment and his suspension from Client with debts using fee-charging work. company paying £80 per month now NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB swapped over to our free self-help tool Client phoned regarding their employer mymoney.nedcab.org.uk withholding wages.

NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Benefit check for client on maternity Client assisted with separation and leave who wants to return to work ownership of the joint house

NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Client requested advice on creating a Just heard from a client who we will prepared for an ESA tribunal hearing

NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB with a submission. Upon transition from Client requested advice on faulty Incap ben he scored 0 points. Tribunal workmanship from kitchen fitters. awarded 18 points thus entitling him to Advised to write to the company & ESA with backdate of extra component. refuse to pay until dealt with. NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Advised client on tracing relatives and NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Client requested advice on equity obtaining historic social services care release scheme and how to obtain records . independent financial advice. NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Telephone adviser helping Macmillan NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB client with query about Macmillan grant Liaising with council. Client had been told not entitled to housing & council tax NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB benefit despite claiming income related Client requiring on going assistance ESA with debt, benefits and immigration. NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Client’s eviction today stopped but he's Client advised how to enforce the facing threat of imprisonment for CSA guarantee using fact sheets from arrears later in the week due to failed adviceguide.org.uk business NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Client phoned for info about claiming First ESA appeal of the day. Claim Carers Allowance for looking after disallowed following a score of 0 points. parent with cancer referred to our GL24 to be lodged Macmillan team (2nd today)

NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB NEDCAB @NEDerbyshireCAB Client wanted assistance to trace old Client phoned, has completed Council occupational pension Tax Benefit form & wants to get it checked before sending to @nedDC Social Policy Volunteers

This year we have submitted electronic bureau evidence We commented last year on forms (eBefs) about the limit to entitlement to Contribution the fact that we had noticed an based ESA to 365 days with immediate effect. increase in law graduates looking to volunteer. We are We have also completed several eBefs in the period covering glad that this trend has issues around creditor harassment, claiming JSA when the continued. We find that it is a course is only 13.5 hours per week but is designated as full win-win situation for both time and the difficulties customers have getting through to sides. The graduate gets HMRC to inform of change of circumstances which will valuable experience and an affect their tax credits. impressive addition to their

CV while the bureau gets an Other topics ranged from cold calling from “No win No fee” enthusiastic quick to learn solicitors, CSA enforcement (this was mentioned in the volunteer. It has notably national Social Policy bulletin), Child tax credits, disputed reduced the age profile of the telephone debts through to bad advice from Job Centre Plus advisers and we think this in to a migrant worker. turn attracts younger clients. A major piece of work we carried out concerned Bolsover District Council’s benefit departments’ calculation of It goes without saying that benefits. We had calculated a client’s benefit entitlement and volunteers are the backbone of applied the correct premiums. Lisson Grove’s programmer, the CAB service and ours are the SSU and RightsNet agreed with our calculation. without exception a really good team. We are thrilled Furthermore the Bolsover District Council program that everyone has taken to the ACADEMY did not allow for the premiums we said should different atmosphere of the have been applied to be shown. We are pleased to say that new CABinstant premises and our relationship with the council is such that they listened to feel energised to carry on the us and trawled through their cases to capture others similarly invaluable work they do. affected. Because of the slightly Via Advice Derbyshire we invited Louise Swain from different way of working at Derbyshire County Council (DCC) to discuss the consultation our new premises it has exercise regarding the co-funding of adult social care. opened up different volunteer

We were not happy with the way DCC had put this policy opportunities and so now we into practice and along with other local authorities they may have volunteer receptionists face a legal challenge. and information officers who can help people with our kiosk Louise Swain did say that the cabinet considered our detailed and Adviceguide fact sheets. response but it was not clear how ours or other comments modified the eventual implementation. She said that DCC So here is to another year of received 37% of the questionnaires that they sent out. hard rewarding work. Well done! We continue to make our voice heard on Peak FM and via Twitter and Facebook. This year we dealt with 24,979 different

Debt 43%

Benefits 36%

Housing 4% enquiries covering a wide range of subjects

Employment 3%

Relationships 3%

Other 11% Client Profile Gender Age Range

Occupation Household Type

Housing Tenure Income This year, North East Derbyshire CAB have developed bespoke iPad kiosks

 secure browser  locked down to certain specifications and password protected  access to basic logs

Alternatively we can customise

 to use the standard browser  camera for photographing papers etc.  it is also possible to set up video conferencing between two iPads

We also have a number of information kiosks around the district where you can access useful websites for free. This past year, they have provided 26,623 pages of information (up 20% on last year) to local residents.

 Stonebroom Children’s Centre  Eckington Children’s Centre  Alice's View Children's Centre, North Wingfield  St. Barnabas Centre, Danesmoor  Dronfield Children's Centre  Holmewood Library  Killamarsh Children’s Centre  Bainbridge Hall, Carr Vale, Bolsover  The Hub, South Normanton  Bolsover Library  Shirebrook Library CABinstant Assessment Centre Eckington Health Centre Barlborough Medical Practice Gosber Road, Eckington Worksop Road, Barlborough Unit 1, Bridge Street Wed PM 01246 434279 Patients only Wed PM 01246 819994 Patients only Clay Cross, Derbyshire, S45 9NG Grassmoor The Surgery Castle Street Surgery 186 N Wingfield Road, Grassmoor Castle Street, Bolsover Opening Hours Mon PM 01246 852995 Patients only Fri AM 01246 822983 Patients only Mon - Fri: 10am - 2pm Staffa Health, Holmewood Friendly Family Surgery Adviceline 0844 848 9800 Heath Road, Holmewood Welbeck Road, Bolsover Wed PM 0844 4772433 Fri AM 01246 826815 Patients only Out of hours telephone advice Anyone living in the area via our partners Advice Derbyshire Welbeck Road Health Centre Tuesdays & Thursdays 2pm - 8pm Killamarsh Clinic (not the surgery) Welbeck Road, Bolsover 08444 111 308 Parkside Shopping Centre, Killamarsh Thu AM 01246 825487 Patients only Mon PM 01246 863842 Anyone living in Killamarsh Springs Health Centre Recreation Close, Clowne Eckington Outreach St Lawrence Road Surgery Tue AM 01246 819444 North Wingfield Anyone living in Clowne Eckington Library Tue AM 01246 851029 Patients only Market Street Creswell Medical Centre Eckington Staffa Health Pilsley Surgery Welbeck Street, Creswell Sheffield Willow Close, Pilsley Wed AM 01909 721206 Patients only S21 4EG Mon PM 0844 4771897 Anyone living in the area The Village Surgery Opening Hours Victoria Road, Pinxton Fri: 10am - 2pm (drop-in) Emmett Carr Surgery (Dr Palmer) Tue PM 01773 810207 Abbey Place, Renishaw Anyone living in the area Wed AM 01246 430333 Patients only GP Outreach Sessions Shirebrook Shires Health Care Emmett Carr Surgery (Dr McMurray & 18 Main Street, Shirebrook (By Appointment Only) Partners) Wed PM 01623 742464

Abbey Place, Renishaw Anyone living in the area Dronfield Medical Practice Tues PM 01246 430333 Patients only High Street, Dronfield The Hub Wed PM 01246 412242 Staffa Health Stonebroom Shiner’s Way, South Normanton Anyone living in the area Birkinstyle Lane, Stonebroom Thu PM 01773 810305

Thu PM 0844 4771896 Anyone living in the area Oakhill Medical Practice Anyone living in the area Oakhill Road, Dronfield Staffa Health Tue PM 01246 296900 Patients Only Blackwell Medical Centre 3 Waverley Street, Tibshelf

Gloves Lane, Blackwell Wed AM 0844 4771895 Gosforth Valley Surgery Tue PM 01773 819246 Patients only Anyone living in the area Gorsey Brigg, Dronfield Woodhouse

Tue PM 01246 419040 Patients only

For postal correspondence only (no longer a drop-in service at this address): 126 High Street, Clay Cross, Derbyshire, S45 9EE