Life changing advice

SOUTH CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU

Annual Report 2013- 2014

Providing Free, Confidential, Impartial, Independent Advice

Registered Charity Number: 1118794 Company Number: 6051595

Life changing advice 1

Contents

Contents Page

How it all started 2 - Aims & principles / Description of the service The CAB Team 3 Chairman’s Report 4 Manager’s Comments 5 - 7 Key Performance figures / Client’s Comments 8 Our Volunteers 9 Floating Adviser Service 10 - 11 How we helped in 2013-14 (Statistics) - 12 - & 13 - & 14 - & Staffordshire Advice Line 15 Debt Report 16 - 17 Debt Case Study / Homelessness Prevention Project 18 Social Policy Report 19 - 20 Funding Report 21 - 22 Opening Hours / Advice Line & Website details 23

1 South Staffordshire Citizens Advice Bureau

How it all started

When the prospect of a world war loomed, the National Council of Social Services established a group to look at how to meet the needs of the civilian population in war-time. It was agreed that Citizens Advice Bureaux should be established throughout the country and on 4 September 1939, the day after the declaration of war, two hundred bureaux were opened. From the start, volunteers, who worked from public buildings and private houses, ran the service. Advisers dealt with problems relating to the loss of ration books, homelessness and evacuation.

75 years on the modern Citizens Advice service is firmly established amongst the strongest brands in the Third Sector; 95% of people have heard of Citizens Advice Bureaux. Of the 28,500 people who work across the Citizens Advice service today, 21,500 are volunteers who generously donate their time for the benefit of others. Free, confidential and impartial advice services are delivered from over 3,500 community locations in and Wales which are run by 382 individual charities and South Staffordshire CAB has been one of them since 2000.

We serve the whole of the South Staffordshire area, with our main office being based in Wombourne. We also hold generalist advice surgeries at outreaches across the region, in Codsall, Cheslyn Hay, Kinver, Penkridge and Perton.

The bureau has a team of dedicated and experienced staff and volunteers, supporting the service to help others in their community.

Aims and principles

To ensure that individuals do not suffer through lack of knowledge of their rights and responsibilities or of the services available to them, or through an inability to express their needs effectively and equally to exercise a responsible influence on the development of social policies and services, both locally and nationally.

Description of the service

The Citizens Advice service helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. Citizens Advice Bureau use evidence of their clients’ problems to campaign for improvements in laws and services that affect everyone. Every Citizens Advice Bureau is an independent registered charity. Without funding and volunteers the CAB could not continue to provide its services in South Staffordshire.

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The South Staffordshire CAB Team

Trustee Board Members

Ena Ray - Chairman (w.e.f. Nov 13) David Hough - Chairman (stepped down Nov 13) Val Chapman Carole Yates - Vice Chair Cllr Roger Lees Bryan Richens - Treasurer Mike Lynch Peter Wilkinson - Company Secretary Cllr Robert Reade

Bureau Staff

Bureau Manager: Catherine Barlow Advice Services Supervisor: Stephanie Brown Money Adviser: Dafydd Barnes Money Adviser: Graham Mason (left March 14) Case Worker: Sarah Preston Peripatetic Adviser: Mark Hall Administration Officer: Helen Evans

Volunteers

Generalist Advisers Admin Support Workers Christine Allen June Hale Jane Barker Tina Anslow Olwen Hughes Lyn Roberts Richard Davies Pauline Social Policy Co-ordinator Ken Jon Taylor (left Sept 13) Ken Dean Marie De Martigny Madelaine Taylor Social Policy Assistant Elizabeth Banahan Volunteer Administrator - minute secretary Louise Whatton Pro Bono Solicitors

Daniel Williams — Morgan & Co Solicitors Hannah Scott (Solicitor) & Steve Grosvenor (Para Legal) — Waldrons Solicitors

A big Thank You to all those in our dedicated team, without whom the work of the Bureau would not be possible.

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Chairman’s Report

By November 2014 I will have completed a year as Chairman. This is not the first time I have had the honour to hold this office and I am conscious of the responsibilities that come with it. Our CAB service is highly valued by all members of our community - I know this from the many comments which are fed back to us by grateful clients. I always feel a sense of pride when I am able to tell acquaintances about my connection with the CAB.

During the past year, despite forebodings connected with Local Authority funding cutbacks, the continuing recession and welfare reform, we have been able to continue to deliver our services to the community. In providing advice to individuals, and in our equally important role of influencing government policy makers at both local and national level, we have again been very successful. The enactment of Welfare Reform legislation has increased demand for our services, and it has only been by careful budgetary management, and the recruitment of more unpaid volunteers that we have been able to meet this expanding workload. At our last organisational audit carried out by our National Association of Citizens Advice they commented that we were an excellent example of how a small CAB should be run which would put us in the top 10%.

I and my fellow Trustees willingly accept that it is only through the efforts of the bureau manager and her dedicated team of staff and volunteers that South Staffs CAB continues to play such an important role in our district. In particular, we recognise and appreciate the time given by our all our volunteers in their own local communities. In Perton for example, we attended a Celebration Event on the 21st June, and congratulate volunteer adviser Pauline who was presented with a certificate for her work at the Perton Community Centre by Gavin Williamson MP. We also value the importance of external networking and connect with the Local Authority's Local Strategic Partnership, CAB Group and Community Voluntary Action amongst many others.

The Trustees wish to record our thanks for the work undertaken by Graham Mason who has retired from the Bureau this year and we wish him well for the future.

Finally I would like to record my thanks to all fellow Trustees, and to the bureau manager; but most of all to the hard working staff and volunteers of South Staffs CAB. I am grateful for the support you have all given to me as your Chairman.

Ena Ray Chairman

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Manager’s Comments

In South Staffordshire clients can access the service in a variety of ways. The bureau operates open door, face to face advice sessions at 6 different locations across the district. For those who cannot attend the outreach sessions in person due to work commitments or health issues , help by telephone is available from our Staffordshire Advice Line. A client can call Advice Line and speak to a gateway assessor who will either give them the information they need or pass them on to an adviser for either a telephone call back or a face-to-face specialist appointment as required or signpost them to a more appropriate source of help.

Additionally, we offer specialist debt and benefit appointments and the services of a floating adviser who can provide home visits for those most in need. Clients also have the options of sending an email or seeking on-line help from our award winning website’ Adviceguide’ which provides free round-the-clock access to information. Going forward into 2014 we are looking to install a self service local information and help kiosk for members of the public to access at our main office in Wombourne.

Benefits and debt problems are the main reasons people seek advice from the bureau but clients also present problems on a wide range of other issues including housing, employment, family relationships and consumer issues. We aim to provide a holistic service, so clients typically receive advice on more than one problem and many of them contact us on more than one occasion either to follow up an existing enquiry or to ask for help on an entirely new problem.

Throughout 2013/14 the bureau helped 1,934 people deal with 7470 different problems or advice issues as we now call them. The workload involved in delivering the advice to clients is reflected in the 7620 different contacts made with clients and third parties including face to face meetings, telephone calls, letters and emails.

Last year the welfare reform changes began to take effect and these will continue as we move through 2014 and beyond. Our clients have experienced the impact of changes to Housing Benefit, Tax Credits and moving from Incapacity Benefit to Employment Support Allowance and from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Personal Independence Payments (PIP), all of which have caused stress and anxiety for people on low incomes who are often disabled or suffering from ill-health. In conjunction with South Staffs Council we facilitated a welfare reform workshop to look at the issues with local groups and organisations. One major trend in response to the effects of welfare reform has been the expansion of food banks across the country and we have linked up with local providers to become official food voucher holders for those most in need. We also look to assist clients to access the Local Crisis Support scheme operated by Staffordshire County Council which was set up to replace the social fund loan system previously managed by the Department of Work & Pensions.

5 We believe the help we provide really makes a difference to people’s lives and their overall wellbeing. We know from client feedback that for some people, the advice and ongoing support they received had a significant impact and changed their life for the better.

Our client satisfaction surveys reflect that 96% of respondents were happy or very happy with our service. We regularly receive positive comments, gifts and donations in the forms of cards, letters, cakes, chocolates, biscuits and even a large jar of home made pickles! Our hard working and committed team of staff and volunteers certainly appreciate this support and recognition of their efforts.

A less well known but key aim of our service is to campaign to improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives. The breadth of problems we deal with puts us in a position where we are able to capture evidence from our clients of injustice and poor practice both locally and nationally. Over the last year we submitted 132 social policy evidence forms to Citizens Advice to help with valuable campaigning work which compares to 101 for the year before.

Throughout the year the bureau has had to adjust to ongoing changes and challenges. As a Third Sector group we face financial restrictions and reduced opportunities for new funding whilst our costs increase. We implemented our new case recording and data system ‘Petra’ in July 2013 which is designed very differently to the previous one ‘Case’. The transition involved investment in IT equipment and staff training resources but we are pleased to report that after initial frustrations and the inevitable teething problems the system is now up and running .

We maintained our level of core funding from South Staffordshire Council (SSC) with a review being due in March 2015. In addition, we secured short term funding for one year up to March 2014 under the Homeless Prevention project to provide benefit and debt appointments for clients referred by SSC who were affected by welfare reform. We were also successful in our bid to extend and increase the hours of our floating adviser project from the South and Peninsula Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to provide access to advice to improve the health and well being of isolated and vulnerable people until March 2015. We also received core funding from Staffs County Council , together with other Staffordshire CABs, to help support money advice and Advice Line until March 2014. The Citizens Advice Service across Staffordshire then had to enter into a competitive tender to secure continuation funding for advice services in the county. The bid was successful and from April 2014 Wombourne Children’s Centre open day — from left; Cheryl Northwood we secured 2 years’ funding to provide debt, - Sure Start Facilitator, Cathy Barlow - Manager South Staffs CAB & benefit and consumer face to face and Sabrina Sproston - Village Agent - Community Council of Staffordshire. telephone advice appointments albeit with a 25% reduction in the grant we receive.

6 We need to be alert to the changing funding landscape and meet the challenges ahead, particularly that of welfare reform, to ensure we are ready to compete and deliver a service which still reflects the needs of our community. Indeed, throughout the year we have continued to work closely with other Staffordshire CABs, national Citizens Advice and our partners in the South Staffordshire community. These include the South Staffordshire Partnership, Housing and Benefits departments at South Staffordshire Council, South Staffordshire Community and Voluntary Action (SSCVA), Bromford and South Staffs Housing Associations, local Councillors, MP Gavin Williamson, Village Agents, DWP, Chase Against Hate Crime and Credit Union.

We have been working with South Staffs Council on the ‘Lets Work Together’ initiative which is about raising awareness of services available between organisations front facing /home visiting staff working with the public and providing confidence and skills about how to help or respond or who to contact, in the circumstance that anyone interacting with another person in the community identifies a need. To further the development of the key link between the receipt of advice and health and well being, we have established increasing links with local health services through the South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula CCG including GP surgeries, health centres, district nurses, West Park Rehabilitation Hospital, Alzheimers Society and Carers Association. For mental health we have links with the Richmond Fellowship, Quest and South Staffs Adult Community Mental Health. We have also become an official local ‘Health Watch Champion’ organisation and engaged with the local ‘Good Life’ hub concept which assists people to find opportunities to lead a healthy lifestyle and links in to the ‘Lets Work Together’ A community event at Hinksford Caravan Park with initiative. Cllr Roger Lees from our Trustee Board and Bureau Manager—Cathy Barlow

As ever, I wish to express my sincere thanks to our excellent team of staff, volunteers and Trustee Board members for all their hard work, support throughout the year. We particularly thank David Hough, who stepped down from his role as Trustee Chair and passed the baton on to Ena Ray, for all the work and support he provided on behalf of the bureau and myself during his tenure. We also sadly said goodbye to money adviser Graham Mason who left to build up a new business venture and to volunteer Jon Taylor who moved to Yorkshire to retire with his family. We all wish them every success for the future.

In addition, I would like to thank Shân Williams and Citizens Advice for their guidance and support. I would also like to express my appreciation to SSCVA for their help and advice on funding issues in the new commissioning climate. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all our funders, clients and those in the wider community who support the Citizens Advice service.

Cathy Barlow Bureau Manager

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Key performance figures: 2013-14

● 7470 enquiry issues handled ● Helped people deal with 456 housing

● 7620 contacts dealt with. issues. ● 556 employment issues dealt with. ● Helped clients to claim annualised and back dated benefits worth £1,158,000. ● 96% overall satisfaction with our service ● £ 4.2M debt handled expressed by our clients. ● 2946 benefit issues dealt with. ● 132 bureau evidence forms submitted for Social Policy issues.

Some Clients’ Comments

“The service was good and gave great advice. It gives you peace of mind to know you are there to help. It helped me a lot and I would just like to say a big Thank You.”

“I have seen a few advisers over the past “We are lucky to have people like you year and each one has to help and advise us” given fantastic service”

“Brilliant “Without your Service” adviser’s help and “Excellent advice we would advice ” have been lost”

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Our Volunteers

Our service could not exist without the dedication of our team of 22 volunteers which includes advisers, social policy workers, trustee board members and administrators. They bring a wealth of qualities and skills into the service and willingly give their own valuable time to help others. Indeed, on average, they put in an average of 85 unpaid hours a week on behalf of the bureau and it is pertinent to note that the paid equivalent for this contribution has been estimated at almost £75,000 a year.

One of our advisers shares her experience of being a volunteer at our bureau; Pauline - I joined South Staffordshire Citizens Advice Bureau May 2008 having been through a period of restlessness following resignation of my trusteeship as a volunteer for a charity supporting a rare medical condition. I had recently completed my degree with the Open University and was looking for a fresh challenge. Due to my role as carer for my disabled child my options were limited. One day while trawling the internet for inspiration for my next challenge I stumbled on a forum discussing the benefits of volunteering for the CAB and describing how thorough and highly regarded their training was. Looking back it seems so long ago since the bureau placed their trust in me as a qualified generalist adviser and allowed me to provide valuable advice to members of the public. I am no longer daunted by the prospect of not knowing who will walk through the door next and the depth and complexity of what their problems might be. The challenge on the one hand is tempered on the other by the in-depth and relevant training provided by the bureau. The training will as legislation changes always bedictate on-going and this keeps the momentum rolling. The personal rewards are substantial when people who entered the room with sullen faces and bleak prospects walk back out of the room with a smiling and happy face having been offered hope or a potential solution to their problems. Their thanks are regularly gratifying and sometimes humbling. Volunteering for the CAB is one of the best decisions I have ever made and I have never regretted making it for one moment.

Case Study Client is in his 80s and suffers from multiple health problems. As a result he has various care needs. We went through the eligibility criteria for claiming Attendance Allowance (AA) with client and helped him to claim, it was estimated he could achieve the low care rate of £53 a week. His wife also gets AA. A successful claim could entitle him and his wife to additional benefits to help them as they could potentially get severe disability and carers premiums. This could passport them into eligibility for Pension Credit and Council Tax Benefit. Following our benefit check and help to claim, client was successful in obtaining Attendance Allowance of £53 a week, Pension Credit of £150 a week and full Council Tax benefit to pay all their council tax. Client stated he could not thank us enough for all our help in this matter and that it had made a big difference to their lives and peace of mind.

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Floating Adviser Service

The bureau offers a floating/ peripatetic adviser service funded by South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula Clinical Commissioning Group which covers Localities 4 & 5 of the South Staffordshire District. This project has been running since September 2012 and has now been extended until March 2015.

The service aims to reduce health inequalities in the area by providing access to advice on a flexible basis for clients who are unable to reach us due to disability, poor health, vulnerability or other difficult circumstances like caring responsibilities. A home visit or convenient appointment in their local community can be arranged with our specialist adviser. GPs, health care professionals, local authorities, housing associations, social services, support workers, local community groups and charities are able to sign post or refer people in need to the service.

Our adviser, Mark delivers comprehensive welfare benefits and income maximisation advice to help those struggling with debt and financial difficulties. We carry out checks to ensure that vulnerable people and those in need are claiming all the benefits they are entitled to. In particular, we help them to fill in complex and time consuming application forms, understand how to appeal when benefits are withdrawn and to deal with the effect of welfare reform. Our advice has empowered clients to have more control over their circumstances, helped to alleviate stress and anxiety and so improve their health and well being.

Our floating adviser’s work helps to reduce the administrative burden and release valuable time and resources from surgeries, health clinics and other local services, thus enabling them to concentrate on their key priorities. During 2013/14 our floating adviser helped 113 clients. The workload involved in helping these clients is reflected in the 446 different contacts/activities with them and third parties involved in their case.

Advice and help was given to these clients on 727 different advice issues including welfare and disability benefits, tax credits and financial difficulties.

The advice dispensed by our floating adviser under this project has helped to put money directly into the pockets of local people in need. Indeed, during the year the project has enabled clients to claim £656,000 worth of annualised and back dated benefits.

Some Client comments: “ Fantastic service and excellent advice. Without Mark’s “My wife and I are very senior citizens. Your help and advice we would have been lost. He was one to one service has been a god send.” brilliant and we cannot praise him enough.”

“ The home visit I had was a tremendous help to me. It took “We were so pleased that you were able to the pressure off hoping to be well enough to go out that day, make a home visit to fill in benefit forms and it was so helpful. Because of my disabilities it took away all give advice as my wife is disabled”. my stress – five star service.”

“I don’t feel well enough to leave my house without a family member with me. A home visit made a big difference in such circumstances.”

10 Case Study 1. Case Study 2.

Our client has been caring for her Our client aged 83 has several health problems and severely disabled brother for ten years. needed help claiming Attendance Allowance. He She is in receipt of Carer’s Allowance receives a State Pension and Occupational Pensions. but this was only being paid at a rate of His wife receives a State Pension and Attendance £37 a week while the DWP recover an Allowance. overpayment of Income Support from We helped the client complete the Attendance several years ago. There are also Allowance claim forms and advised him on his right several other debt issues. The client has claimed of appeal. We advised him that he may be entitled to Income Support but has been waiting for several the low rate of Attendance Allowance. weeks for this to be processed and has received no payments. We also advised the client to apply for Carer’s Allowance for looking after his wife. This would We advised the client that she is entitled to entitle the client to an underlying entitlement to £45.15 a week Income Support and £59.75 a Carer’s Allowance, which increases entitlement to week Carer’s Allowance. other benefits. This in turn would entitle the client We telephoned the DWP and after some and his wife to Pension Credits Savings element of conversations we were told that £254.10 back- £14.18 a week and Council Tax Benefit of £16.31 a dated Income Support would be paid into her bank week. Attendance Allowance would be payable at a account that day. The DWP also agreed that their rate of £53 a week. In total the client will be £83.49 overpayments team would contact the client to a week better off. When the client receives arrange lower repayments of the overpayment. Attendance Allowance his wife will be able to claim Carer’s Allowance for looking after him and further We also advised the client on debt options such as increase their income in the guise of bankruptcy and Debt Relief Orders and arranged Pension Credits and Council Tax Benefit. to help her with her debts. The client’s income has increased and Our client now has enough money to feed herself benefits to help with personal care will be and pay her priority bills, less stress and in place. He is now more financially secure knowledge that further help is available for her and able to pay for any related carer and

personal care needs. debts.

Case Study 3. Client suffers with a number of serious health problems. She was in receipt of contribution based Employment Support Allowance (ESA) after being transferred from Incapacity Benefit under Welfare Reform changes. We advised on her entitlements in the ESA support group. We advised on claiming Disability Living Allowance and helped to complete the claim form. We advised the client on budgeting loans so she could obtain money to purchase a fridge and carpets. We advised her that Community Care Grants were abolished in April 2013. We advised her to contact Social Services for an assessment of need for help around the home.

We advised on Welfare Reform and the effects on Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. From April 2013 she was liable to pay 14% of her rent because she has a spare bedroom and would have to pay 20% of her Council Tax.

We were also able to advise the client that she should have been paid an enhanced premium with her ESA. She would have to claim Income related ESA in addition to CB ESA. We contacted the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss this enhanced premium and the fact that our client should have been paid a higher amount of ESA under transitional rules when transferred from Incapacity Benefit.

Our client received a payment of £208 for the under payment relating to transitional rules. She received a form to claim Income Related ESA and the enhanced premium backdated to October 2011. We sent a letter to the Department for Work and Pensions arguing the enhanced premium should be back dated to October 2011 as they had stated it could not be back dated more than 3 months. Our client was later paid £1,256 back dated to October 2011.

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How we helped in 2013—14

We hold advice sessions at Wombourne and throughout South Staffordshire. County wide telephone advice is also available from Staffordshire Advice Line.

Please see back page for full details of our opening times.

Statistics are shown below for each outreach/outlet. (‘Total Contacts’ refers to the number of contacts made with clients and third parties including face to face meetings, telephone calls, letters and emails).

Wombourne Monday & Friday 9.30am - 12.30pm The Civic Centre, Gravel Hill, Wombourne. Enquiry Type - %

2% 6% 6% Benefits 4% 36% Debt 4% Employment 6% Housing Legal Relationship Consumer 36% Others

Total Contacts 4472

Total Unique Clients 698

12 Cheslyn Hay Wednesday 10.00am - 4.00pm

Enquiry Type - % The Village Hall, Pinfold Lane Cheslyn Hay

7% 2% 7% 2% 35% Benefits 7% Debt Employment 7% Housing Legal Relationship 33% Consumer Others

Total Contacts 416

Total Unique Clients 177

Codsall Thursday 10.00am - 1.00pm Enquiry Type - % Codsall Village Hall, Wolverhampton Road, Codsall

1%7% 6% 1% 4% Benefits 39% Debt 7% Employment Housing Legal Relationship 35% Consumer Others

Total Contacts 492

Total Unique Clients 202

13 Kinver Tuesday 9.30am - 12.30pm Enquiry Type - % The Senior Citizens Club, Kinver

9% 1% 9% 41% Benefits 5% Debt Employment 11% Housing Legal 7% Relationship 17% Consumer Others

Total Contacts 211

Total Unique Clients 107

Thursday Penkridge 9.30am - 12.30pm The Haling Dene Centre, Enquiry Type - % Road, Penkridge.

9% 1% 7% Benefits 33% 4% Debt 5% Employment Housing 6% Legal Relationship Consumer 35% Others

Total Contacts 300

Total Unique Clients 125

14 Perton Wednesday 9.30am - 12.30pm & Enquiry Type - % 1.00pm—4.00pm Community Centre, Church Road, Perton

1% 6% 8%

5% Benefits Debt 6% 45% Employment

5% Housing Legal Relationship 24% Consumer Others

Total Contacts 472

Total Unique Clients 217

Staffordshire Advice Line - South Staffordshire Outlet Telephone Advice Line 03444 111 444 Enquiry Type - %

10%

6% 27% Benefits Debt 11% Employment Housing 4% Legal Relationship 9% 18% Consumer 15% Others

Total Contacts 470

Total Unique Clients 408

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Debt Report

Assisting clients with debt issues remains an integral part of the function of any Citizens Advice Bureau and South Staffs remains no exception. However, the options of debt advice open to our clients by and large remain the same.

In recent years only the advent of the Debt Relief Order has provided a new and very useful further option. However, it could be argued that some of the options create unfair conditions on those seeking certain remedies.

The well-worn remedies are restated, and in simplistic form, include the following: The Informal Arrangement: This is based on offers to creditors in accordance with the ability of the In 2013/14 client to repay. This can be token minimal payment (of £1.00 per month) we dealt with where there is no meaningful disposable income, or larger payments 2375 debt distributed pro rata based on the size of the individual debts. issues

The Individual Voluntary Arrangement: This is a formal insolvency process, subject to agreement of the requisite value of creditors, which allows payments to be made over a five or six year period, after which time the creditors agree to write off the remaining balances outstanding.

Bankruptcy: This allows for debts, usually more than £15,000 in total to be written off in full.

Debt Relief Order: During 2013/14 we

This allows for debts under £15,000 to be written off in full. completed - 59 Debt Relief Orders OUR EXPERIENCES: and 10 Bankruptcies An examination of the options above would give the impression that the Bankruptcy and Debt Relief Order would be popular choices when considered that the debts are written off in full. The Debt Relief Order is indeed a frequent solution probably shared equally with the Informal Arrangement.

The Bureau helps to process approximately 10—12 cases of Bankruptcy per annum, a relatively small number. This is not a popular choice if the client has an equity of more than £1,000 in their property or car valued more than £1,000, the subsequent value in those assets may well need to be realised by the Trustee in Bankruptcy. For this reasons it is extremely rare for a client of this profile to take this route.

For such clients then the realistic option is an Informal Arrangement and if this is to be token payments then the repayment period can be a long period indeed.

16 For clients with no assets there need be no such consideration. However, the fees for Bankruptcy are between £525.00 and £710.00, which in itself provides a significant obstacle towards taking this option, whether or not the borrower possesses assets. For those with assets AND a disposable income the Individual Voluntary Arrangement can prove to be a good option and where we recognise such potential cases, these are referred to a choice of agencies which have the necessary licence to advise the client further. So the message here is that accumulating assets can be a big problem if circumstances change and debts become unmanageable. Hence the Informal Arrangement is for those clients who, understandably, wish to maintain their asset base or simply cannot afford the Bankruptcy fee.

In 2013/14 — total This leaves us with the Debt Relief Order. This is intended for clients debt of £4.2million who have assets of less than £300.00, a car valued at no more than including £1.6m £1,000.00, debts of less than £15,000 and a disposable income of secured debt were less than £50.00 per month. handled by the We have processed 59 in the last twelve months and with an average bureau. debt of say £8,000 this means about £472,000 has been written off.

We do try and encourage creditors to write off debts, especially when we believe that there no assets and circumstances are unlikely to change. This would apply to token payments. However, we find that despite probably the cost of processing payments of low value, creditors will rarely agree to our requests. No doubt creditors have their own policies and these may still be the lure of good fortune that might befall the client (and therefore the creditor!) and, of course, debts are still a saleable commodity.

For any Debt Advisor, the goal of making the client “debt free” is the Holy Grail. But what then? Do we ever know that we have helped on a permanent basis or have we just achieved a quick fix? Our own experience is that debtors generally do not reappear at the Bureau with new debts, so there is some anecdotal evidence that our intervention has long-lasting value.

Some research finding of Grant Thornton also indicate generally positive aspects: Research findings: ● Individuals are more likely to abstain from borrowing if they are vulnerable to post insolvency financial problems. ● Even years after people who have experienced financial difficulties are less likely to hold a credit card. ● Self restraint – resolve to avoid the hardships and sufferings of overwhelming debt. ● Reluctant to borrow even in the face of significant supply. ● Financial distress has behavioural effects that may be driven by psychological or social factors.

Dafydd Barnes

Money Adviser

17 Case Study Our client, aged over 70, approached us shortly after his wife died, worried about his financial situation. We were able to advise him that he was not responsible for his wife’s debts after she passed away as there was no estate. Living on a modest pension he was unable to manage his own remaining debts of approximately £7000 due to reduced income. However, we were able to help him offer token payments to his creditors for a 12 month period. Thereafter, his car had eventually depreciated to less than £1,000 value which meant that he then qualified for a debt relief order (DRO). We completed the application with the client which was approved by the Insolvency Service and this meant that instead of making payments, his debts were written off in full. The client has recently told us that “ the advice given and actions taken have improved his qualify of life”.

Homelessness Prevention Project

During the year we linked with South Staffs Council to set up a small project funded by the homeless prevention fund. The service was aimed at helping clients suffering an income reduction due to welfare reform thus putting them at risk of falling into financial difficulties and so struggling to maintain their tenancies or pay their mortgages. The service was for a fixed term of one year and ran from March 2013 and was mainly based at the council offices. An adviser working for 10 hours a week provided personal benefit and debt appointments for clients who had been referred from the Housing and Benefit departments.

During the lifetime of the project we saw 94 different clients and the work carried out on their behalf to deliver the advice is reflected in the 355 total contacts we made involving the clients and third parties. Advice was dispensed on 858 advice issues/enquiry types covering the key areas of debt, benefits and tax credits.

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Social Policy Report

Every year we report encountering social policy issues in all the enquiry areas we cover. This year everything else has been dwarfed by problems resulting from reforms to the welfare systems. Many of those we see are experiencing the combined effect of several changes. In extreme cases, the only short term help we have been able to provide being a referral to one of the local food banks.

Problems are being caused by the replacement of Disability Living Allowance with Personal Independence Payments, mainly the result of the inefficiency of Capita, the company charged with undertaking medical assessments. The example below from December 2013 is typical of client experiences:

In 2 weeks we have seen 3 clients who have received letters from Capita telling them to make appointments between specific dates for medical assessments for PIP. None of them have been able to make an appointment either by phone or using Capita's website. We have been equally unsuccessful. One client who has mobility problems, lives more than 90 minutes by public transport from Capita's office and requested a home visit was asked to make an appointment in Birmingham. An additional client has been told by DWP that he may have to wait 28 weeks before he will receive a decision on his claim.

For years we have been reporting the unacceptable waiting times for appeal hearings, in particular challenging decisions on entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance. Before being allowed to appeal, claimants now have to ask for a mandatory reconsideration. There is no limit on how long this will take and during this time no ESA is paid.

Problems are being caused by the transfer of responsibility for crisis support from the Department of Works & Pensions to local authorities. The Local Crisis Support Scheme has been run by Staffordshire County Council since it replaced the Social Fund in April 2013. Up to January 2014 only 2.5% of the allocated budget had been used to help local people experiencing a crisis. The criteria used for defining what counts as a crisis have been very restrictive. In particular benefit disallowance or sanction is not considered to be a crisis.

We use information from problems brought to the bureau by clients to help bring about real change by influencing local and national policy.

19 Finally to the changes which have caused the greatest number of problems, the under occupancy charge – bedroom tax – and requirement for all householders of working age to make a contribution of at least 20% towards Council Tax. Discretionary payments have been made more widely available but they are only a temporary solution to the problem. While the stated aim is to encourage tenants to move to smaller properties and in order to establish if moving to a smaller property was a practical option for those faced with the bedroom tax, extensive research was carried out by Elizabeth Banahan, a post graduate volunteer. The subsequent report demonstrated that in South Staffordshire social landlords have an acute shortage of one and two bedroom homes with demand for these smaller properties vastly exceeding supply, with the exception of those specifically allocated to the elderly or disabled. The best chance for a move is by mutual exchange. In the private rented sector, during the period under review, we could find only one property where the rent would be fully covered by benefits and the landlord was willing to accept a claimant as a tenant. The landlord required a guarantor before granting a tenancy. During the year 132 bureau All these issues have been brought to the attention of our MP Gavin evidence forms Williamson. He in turn has passed our concerns to the relevant were submitted for minister who has replied. We will continue to keep a close eye on Social Policy issues these situations and continue to give feedback. This final example demonstrates how a number of the highlighted problems can combine to devastating effect :

Case Study. The experiences of our client Mr X serve to exemplify how the welfare reform changes can impact on people’s lives. Mr X is a single person who was in receipt of Employment and Support allowance (ESA) due to being limited by his health to find suitable work. Under new rules he was only able to claim for 12 months based on his national insurance contributions. To continue receiving the benefit on a means tested basis, he had to attend a work capability assessment which he failed and so was required to claim Job Seekers Allowance instead. He put in an appeal against the decision but received no payment of benefit for 3 weeks due to delays producing the decision letter. The payments he did receive, pending the appeal hearing, were only allowed at the reduced assessment rate leaving him £28 week worse off. The situation being exacerbated by lengthy delays for hearing dates to come around. In addition our client had to make contributions towards his council tax under the new council tax reduction scheme and also lost £12 week of his housing benefit due to the bedroom tax as he lived in a 2 bedroom rented property. He had to uproot and move to a smaller more affordable property and went through many complications, stress and worry but got no financial assistance with the costs involved. The move also resulted in him not receiving crucial correspondence relating to his appeal hearing, despite his notification of address change. This caused confusion over location and dates and served to create further anxiety. The reduction in his benefits left him with about £11.00 week to cover all other living costs and he consequently struggled to pay his essential bills and had to resort to doorstep lenders. Sometimes he went without food and we had to help with a referral to the local food bank. At this difficult time he also had to sell goods to pay for his father’s funeral despite a request for assistance from the social fund.

Ken Dean Social Policy Coordinator

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Funding Report

In this past year we can report that funding has continued for South Staffordshire Citizens Advice Bureau under its Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with South Staffordshire District Council and Staffordshire County Council to support the core service, money advice and telephone advice line. We have completed the 2nd year of the 3 year SLA with South Staffordshire District Council and it will continue at the same funding level until March 2015. However, in the next financial year we commence a new 3 year agreement with Staffordshire County Council but there will be a reduction of approximately £7,000. We increased the level of funding we received from South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula Clinical Commissioning Group and this will continue until March 2015. In addition we secured one years fixed term funding to provide more benefit and debt appointments under the Homelessness Prevention Project.

Within the year contributions again have been received via by the following councillors from the Staffordshire Local Community Fund and these are utilised for specific costs including rent, equipment and telephone expenses: ● Councillor B Edwards ● Councillor M Lawrence ● Councillor M Davies ● Councillor K Perry ● Councillor K James ● Councillor D Williams

Contributions and donations from other local sources as listed below have also been received: ● Bilbrook Council ● Blymhill & Weston Parish Council ● Cheslyn Hay Parish Council ● Codsall Parish Council ● Parish Council ● Kinver Parish Council ● Parish Council ● & Patshull Parish Council ● Penkridge Parish Council ● Perton Parish Council ● Swindon Parish Council ● Clients (10)

21 Occasional accommodation has been kindly provided for meetings, including AGM, interviews, etc, by: ● Wombourne Parish Council In addition we do receive a rebate on the rates payable and this year Wombourne Parish Council have also kindly made a purchase of a new telephone system for our sole use.

Accommodation has been provided for outreach services within their respective areas by the following: ● Cheslyn Hay Parish Council ● Codsall Village Hall ● Kinver Senior Citizens Club ● Penkridge Parish Council ● Perton Parish Council

The Trustee Board are grateful for all the support we have and express our thanks to all the sources mentioned above.

Within this past year expenditure has been controlled and remained within the budgets set and this has meant our staff have once again not received any increases in their rates of pay. In the year to 31st March 2014 the total incoming resources for the year were £130,980 (2012/13 - £123,858) of this total £125,055 (2012/13 - £119,152) was due to restricted activities. The surplus for the year was £2,542 (2012/13 £3,202) this is made up of a surplus on the unrestricted fund of £2,410 and on the restricted funds of £132. The objectives of the Trustee Board is to maintain reserves of the Bureau, in accordance with the recommendations of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, of at least a minimum of 25% of annual expenditure and this has been achieved with a total of £36,590 being held within the reserves. As treasurer again I express my gratitude for the support extended to me by the Bureau Manager Cathy Barlow and for the control she applies to expenditure in particular and to the hard work of the Bureau Administrative Officer Mrs Helen Evans.

Bryan Richens Treasurer

Further detailed accounts available on request or by

visiting the Charity Commission website

22 SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU FREE CONFIDENTIAL ADVICE

OPENING HOURS (Excluding Bank Holidays)

MONDAY 9.30am – 12.30pm at Civic Centre, Gravel Hill, WOMBOURNE, WV5 9HA

TUESDAY 9.30am – 12.30pm at

The Senior Citizens Club, High Street, KINVER, DY7 6HL

WEDNESDAY 10.00am – 4.00pm at

The Village Hall, Pinfold Lane, CHESLYN HAY, WS6 7HP

and 9.30am – 12.30pm and 1.00pm – 4.00pm at

Community Centre, Church Road, PERTON, WV6 7PD

THURSDAY 9.30am – 12.30pm at

The Haling Dene Centre, Cannock Road, PENKRIDGE, ST19 5DT and 10.00 am to 1.00 pm at

Codsall Village Hall, Wolverhampton Road, CODSALL, WV8 1PW

FRIDAY 9.30am – 12.30pm at The Civic Centre, Gravel Hill, WOMBOURNE, WV5 9HA

COUNTY WIDE TELEPHONE ADVICE: STAFFORDSHIRE ADVICE LINE: 03444 111 444

Opening Times : Mon 9am—5pm Tues 9am—8pm Wed 9am—8pm Thurs 9am—5pm Fri 9am—4.30pm (Closed Bank Holidays) South Staffordshire CAB Website: http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/sscab.htm Staffordshire CAB Website: www.citizensadvicestaffordshire.co.uk 24 hour advice : www.adviceguide.org.uk

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