Advice Services- meeting the challenges ahead

Fran TargettNovember 2013

Advice Services – meeting the challenges aheadWelfare reform•£18bn package of welfare cuts planned 2011-2014 and more cuts to come …

•Universal Credit •Housing Benefits•Working Age Disability benefits•Employment Support Allowance•Pensions•Child Benefit•Localised benefits

– Social Fund/Welfare assistance– Council Tax reduction

Advice Services – meeting the challenges ahead

How welfare is delivered•Change from RPI to CPI•Benefit up-rating •Single household payment•Digital by default•Frequency of payments•Rental payment arrangements

– Definition of ‘vulnerable’ tenants

•Complexity who is impacted when …

•Demonstration projects

Advice Services – meeting the challenges ahead

Debt and Money Advice

•Growth of Payday lenders•Growth of debt for essential services•Increasing fuel prices and fuel debt

•Limited responses by the financial markets to most vulnerable borrowers

Advice Services – meeting the challenges ahead

Housing

•Impact of ‘bedroom tax’•Impact of other welfare reform issues•Increase in homelessness

•Housing legislation increasing rights

Advice Services – meeting the challenges ahead

Employment and discrimination

•Increased enquiries about changing and poor terms and conditions especially zero hours contracts•Increased enquiries about redundancy

•Discrimination problems underpinned by hardening public attitudes

Advice Services – meeting the challenges ahead

Relationships

•Vulnerable families because of worsening economic situation•Increases in enquiries about hate crimes

Advice Services – meeting the challenges ahead

Responses to the ChallengeLow Commission consultation•Legal aid should be viewed as part of a continuum from information through to preventative work

•Ensuring the quality of all levels of service provision must be a high priority

•Ensuring open and collaborative advice sector.

•The UK and Welsh Governments develop National Strategy for Advice and Legal Support for 2015-20 (estimate approx. £500m required, half from UK government, half from other funders and distributed by BIG)

•90% of the Fund should be used to fund local provision, with 10% for national initiatives

•Local authorities should co-produce or commission

local advice and legal support plans in conjunction

with local not-for-profit and commercial advice agencies

Final report due January 2014

Advice Services – meeting the challenges ahead

Responses to the Challenge

Welsh Government Advice Services Review

Independent Advice Providers Forum responseWe need to:•resolve clients’ problems as quickly as possible•enable clients to access our services in the way they want•deliver high quality services•use our knowledge and insight to improve things for our clients and others at a policy level•ensure consistency across advice services

Advice Services – meeting the challenges ahead

Responses to the Challenge

Independent Advice Providers Forum responseTo deliver this we need:•local and/or regional advice provision networks•the development of Welsh Government /IAPF national network to ensure the strategic development of advice provision•further development of advice channels including the IAPF’s approach to new technology •move towards outcomes based commissioning and medium term funding for advice provision •a more consistent approach to quality

Advice Services – meeting the challenges ahead

• Need?

• Co-production and client preference?

• Quality assurance?

• Networking and collaboration

• Preventative and policy work?

Who are our clients and how do we target our help?

What is the breadth and depth of our advice offer?

What is the breadth and depth of our preventative, policy and campaigns offer?

What is the right shape of advice delivery channels?

One Service delivery model?

1

2 4

3

Who are our clients and how do we target our help?

we are here for everyone

we target our help by issue, wherever detriment is greatest

that means our help reaches those who need it most

Are our services attractive to all?

we don’t start with any bias towards any particular group(s)

1

Assisted digital provision makes our help seamlessand consistent across delivery channels and geography – sowe can reach clients more easily

What is the breadth of our advice offer?

Welfare Money Consumer Employment Discrimination Housing

We focus the breadth of our advice by issue, wherever detriment to individuals or society is greatest

2

Ensure our operating modelsresolve as many clients’ problems

at first point of contact as possible – a staged approach

Then we move to in-depth advice

if needed Caseworkwhen

needed

Stage 3 Stage 4

Referral between partners

Stage 2Stage 1

Problem solved

Problemsolved Problem

solved

What is the depth of our advice offer?32

Digital

Phone

Face-to-face

In-depth digital

In-depth phone

In depth face to face

Solved

Solved

SolvedCasework

SH

IFT B

ETW

EEN

CH

AN

NELS

Stage 1 What is the right shape of our advicedelivery channels?

First contact

3

Solved

Solved

Solved

Pre

venta

tive,

polic

y a

nd

cam

paig

ns

Influencing effectively and

earlier

4What is the breadth and depth of our policy and campaigns offer?