2017-2018ANNUAL REPORT

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Key Achievements

A range of training courses were provided throughout the year.

The ServiceCommunity Law Service (Northampton and County) is a registered charity and an independent specialist social welfare advice provider. The aim of the organisation is to improve the health and wellbeing of local residents through tackling social and financial exclusion, alleviating poverty and advancing education. This is achieved through the provision of specialist advice, information, representation, training and consultancy services currently in the fields of Welfare Benefits, Debt, Financial Capability, Energy Advice, Housing, Employment Law and Immigration / Nationality Law. CLS has held the advice Specialist Quality Mark since 2000 and our services range from one-off specialist

advice to a comprehensive specialist casework service and representation at court and tribunal. Our services are for all but are particularly focused on supporting vulnerable client groups and we offer a mixed model of service delivery aimed at promoting equality of access to services. This includes community outreach services, home visits, advice centre appointments and advice by telephone or email. We have well developed partnerships and referral arrangements in place with a wide variety of agencies across Northamptonshire and contribute to local social policy development in respect of social welfare issues.

32,742 People provided with advice and information

10,078 People provided with specialist advice

3,907 People provided with Welfare Benefits casework

391 People provided with advice and assistance in relation to social security appeal tribunals

£12,013,368 Welfare Benefit income claimed for local residents

2,777 People provided with Debt casework

£ 29,083,791 Debt was managed on behalf of clients

190 Debt Relief Orders administered

31 Bankruptcy petitions supported

1,913 People provided with Housing advice casework

1,499 Housing Repossession and eviction cases represented in the County Courts

98% Success rate in respect of preventing repossession and eviction

1,580 People provided with holistic Fuel Poverty advice casework

744 People provided with Immigration casework

104 People provided with Employment Law casework

361 Home visits were undertaken for housebound clients

5,869 People accessed services through CLS Advice Shops and Centres

2,314 People accessed services through CLS community outreach venues

9,520 People access CLS services by telephone

47% People advised live in Northampton Borough

46% People advised live in other localities in the County

7% People advised live in other areas

32,742People provided with advice

Total: £29,083,791

Total: £12,013,368

Welfare Benefit and Grant Income Claimed for Clients

Debt Managed for Clients

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£5,942,102 Rent / Mortgage Arrears

£1,080,731 Benefit Overpayments

£1,143,455 Utility Debt

£1,078,586 Council Tax Debt

£19,835,917 Secondary Debt

6% Attendance Allowance

1% Grants and Payments

5% Carers Allowance

1% Child Benefits

1% Council Tax Support

1% DHP

4% DLA

28% ESA

7% Housing Benefit

2% Income Support

2% JSA

1% Maternity Benefits

3% Pension Credit

28% PIP

8% Tax Credits

1% Universal Credit

Employment Status of People Advised:

Housing Tenure of People Advised:

Ethnicity of People Advised:

Disability & Health64% of clients assisted considered themselves to have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities.

70% White British12% Black or Black British8% Eastern European5% Asian or Asian British5% Other/Undisclosed

1% Alcohol / drug dependency4% Health problem (no disability)14% Long term illness2% Learning disability22% Mental ill health13% Physical impairment3% Sensory impairment2% Multiple impairments3% Cognitive impairment36% No health issues or disability

10% Not seeking12% Part-time work10% Retired3% Carer3% Student

11% Unemployed14% Full-time work32% Incapacity3% Self employed2% Other

28% Housing Association21% Local Authority20% Private Rented19% Homeowner10% Other

28%

8%1% 6%

1%

5%

1%1%

1%

4%

28%

7%2%

2%1%

3%

37% Clients with dependent children

3%

10%

12%

10%

3%

11%

14%

32%

3%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

2%

Not seeking

Part-time Work

Retired

Carer

Student

Unemployed

Full-time Work

Incapacity

Self Employed

Other

19%

20%

21%

28%

10%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Housing Association

Local Authority

Private Rented

Homeowner

Other

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Our Service Delivery Access PointsNORTHAMPTON BOROUGH (47% of people advised)n CLS Advice Centre Hazelwood Roadn CLS Information and Access Point – The One Stop Shop, The Guildhalln Gateway Resource Centre (Northampton Bangladeshi Association)n Berrywood Hospital n Campbell Housen Northamptonshire Carersn Greenview Surgeryn Leicester Terrace Health Care Centren Maple Access Practicen Northampton County Courtn Community Eventsn Home Visitsn Telephone Advice

BOROUGH OF WELLINGBOROUGH (17% of people advised)n CLS Advice Centre, FISH, Cambridge Streetn Isebrook Hospitaln Abbey Medical Centren Community Mental Health Team Officesn Community Eventsn Home Visitsn Telephone Advice

CORBY BOROUGH (5% of people advised)n CLS Office at Citizens Advice Corbyn Home Visitsn Telephone Advice

EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE (15% of people advised)n CLS Advice Centre, High Street, Rushdenn Oundle Libraryn Thrapston Libraryn Irthlingborough Libraryn Raunds Libraryn St Peter’s and All Saints Church, Kingscliffen Community Eventsn Home Visitsn Telephone Advice

SOUTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE (2% of people advised)n Village Network Vehicle – South Northants villagesn Community Eventsn Home visitsn Telephone Advice

DAVENTRY DISTRICT (3% of people advised)n CLS office at Citizens Advicen Village Network Vehicle – Daventry District Villagesn Home Visitsn Telephone advice

KETTERING BOROUGH (4% of people advised)n CLS Office at Citizens Advice Ketteringn St Mary’s Hospitaln Home Visitsn Telephone Advice

OTHER AREAS (7% of people advised)n Cambridge County Courtn Peterborough County Courtn Banbury County Courtn Lincoln County Court (sub-contracted to local Citizens Advice)

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East Midlands Money Advice Service

“With your help and advice we put together a payment plan I could afford to help pay off my debts. The advice I was given made me think differently about taking on debts in the future.”

1,864 People provided with specialist Debt advicen 51% Lived in Northampton Boroughn 49% Lived in other localities in the County

1,623 People received face to face specialist Debt advice241 People received specialist Debt advice by telephone or email168 Debt Relief Orders were administered

CLS is an East Midlands Money Advice Service partner and has delivered the national Money Advice Service (MAS) funded face to face specialist Debt advice across Northamptonshire since 2006. The MAS funding supports 5.3 FTE CLS specialist Debt advisors who

provide appointments at CLS advice centres and at Countywide community based venues including Citizens Advice offices in Corby, Kettering and Daventry. Provision also includes telephone/email advice and home visits for the housebound.

1,864 1,623 241 168

Our FundersTotal: £1,195,754

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£19,508,123 Debt was managed on behalf of clients

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Financial Health and Wellbeing Service In December 2014, following the previous success of CLS’s successful fuel poverty work in the County, British Gas Energy Trust (BGET) provided funding for a new Financial Health and Wellbeing Service. This Project provides an holistic approach to tackling fuel poverty for local residents who are experiencing physical and mental health problems. CLS, by working directly with Health Professionals and establishing a single point of referral is facilitating access to advice and support at the earliest possible stage and help to prevent problems from escalating.

The 4 full-time specialist advisors work directly withGP surgeries, Community Mental Health Teams, and other health services to provide Debt, Benefits, Housing and Energy advice.

Since it was established this new Service has gone from strength to strength with high levels of engagement from health staff and excellent outcomes achieved for clients. New funding has been awarded by BGET to develop this work for a further two and a half years from October 2018.

1267 Clients provided with advice

3267 Separate matters handled for clients

1419 Clients were referred by GPs and other health professionals

£913,590 Debt managed on behalf of clients (£110.031 written off)

£4,587,406 Welfare Benefit income maximised on behalf of clients

219 Grant applications made for assistance with fuel payments, DRO fees and essential household items

Children in Need – Children’s Benefit Take-Up Project

219 Children and their families provided with specialist Welfare Benefits advice

£948,409 Welfare Benefit income and grants for children and families

£73 Average increase in income per week for children and families supported

75% Families reported that the additional income for their children enabled them to join in more social activities outside the home by helping with transport costs and fees for certain activities

Although this year was last year of the 3 year grant from Children in Need for our Children’s Benefit Take-Up funded by Children in Need we were delighted to receive the news that a bid for a further 3 years funding from August 2018 had been successful. The Project supports ill and disabled children to claim the benefits to which they are entitled and helps to maximise the whole family’s income. Support includes assistance with complex claim forms and other relevant follow-on work including ensuring that any awards are correct, assisting with reviews and appeals where appropriate.

Access is also facilitated to other services which improve the lives of the children/young people such as vehicles via the Motability Scheme and aids or adaptations fitted to homes/gardens. In addition to supporting care and mobility needs of children the Project through the securing of additional income helps to provide improved access to social activities, contributes to providing a safe home environment and facilitates increased confidence and independence of children/young people.

“It is so good now to have a warm home. At our age with our poor health the extra income we now have makes such as difference. We couldn't be happier. We had no idea we were entitled to Pension Credit. ”

“Thanks to the benefits you helped claim for our daughter we have been able to afford to buy the specialist hearing equipment she needed to help her with her studies. She is now more independent and a lot happier and is looking forward to going on to further education next year.”

All families reported that their children were able to be more independent in the home and/or when outdoors as result of the help and support provided.

The Advice Services Contract was a Countywide service providing specialist advice to local residents in the areas of Welfare Benefits, Debt, Housing and Employment Law. CLS provided specialist services across the County and sub contracted some services in the areas of Welfare Benefit and Debt to Citizens Advice partners in Daventry, Kettering, Corby and Brackley until September 2017 after which our sub-contractors were funded directly by Commsortia. Services were delivered flexibly across the County and were responsive to demand taking into account the availability of other funding to support residents with their advice needs.

The advice provision was funded by Northamptonshire County Council/First For Wellbeing via Commsortia. Toward the end of the year Commsortia gave notice to both CLS and our Citizens Advice partners following withdrawal of the funding for advice provision by Northamptonshire County Council. This funding cut arose from a review undertaken by Public Health England who deemed the funding of advice services not to be compliant with proper use of their ring fenced grant to the local authority. The County Council’s current financial difficulties did not enable them to mitigate this funding cut through other Council budgets. Despite extensive lobbying highlighting the impact the cut to advice services would have on local communities it was confirmed that the funding would end in September 2018.

Advice Services Contract

“Thank you for helping my father get the benefits to help him maintain an independent home life despite his health difficulties and for working so hard to for people like him who need help.”

3,568 People provided with advice2,442 People provided with Welfare Benefits advice£4,333,927 Additional Benefit and Grant income claimed610 People provided with Debt advice£4,558,980 Debt managed on behalf of clients356 People provided with Housing advice169 People provided with Employment Law advice55% People considered themselves to have a disability16% People from BME communities

3,568People provided with advice

“Thanks to your help getting me disability benefit I can now afford other services that will help with my health issues and I don't have to worry so much about money.”

SNVB Village Networks ProjectThis was the final year of our service delivery as a partner in the Lottery funded Village Networks Project led by South Northants Volunteer Bureau as a further funding application by SNVB to the Lottery to extend the project for another 3 years was unsuccessful. Through this funding CLS provided specialist Welfare Benefits and Debt advice taking our services out to rural villages in South Northamptonshire and in Daventry District on the Rural Information Vehicle which has onboard interview and internet facilities. Going forward however our partnership with SNVB and the utilisation of the RIC will continue through our new fuel poverty funding from National Grid’s Warm Homes Fund.

54 Residents provided with a casework service134 Enquiries handled£147,305 Welfare Benefit income claimed for residents£35,986 Debt managed for residents

54Residents provided

with a casework

service

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2017 -18 was the first year of our third 3 year grant from East Northamptonshire Council for delivery of debt and welfare benefit advice for residents in East Northamptonshire. The grant from East Northamptonshire Council combined with other funding sources to provide an holistic specialist advice service for local people which includes Debt, Welfare Benefits, Housing, Immigration, Employment and Fuel poverty advice. A mixed model of service delivery, including advice centre and outreach venue appointments, telephone advice, home visits and attendance at community events helped to reach people in smaller towns and villages in addition to those living in Rushden and other larger towns. Although the loss of funding from Northamptonshire County Council in the following year will impact on our capacity to meet demand for advice in all areas of the County particularly in respect of welfare benefits advice we are pleased to

report that new funding was secured toward the end of year from National Grid’s Warm Homes Fund to extend our fuel poverty work. This new resource will be available for residents in East Northamptonshire over the next three years helping to support households on low incomes who are struggling to meet their energy bills. In addition residents will also to continue to have access to our Children in Need Benefit Take-Up project funding for which has been awarded for a further three years.

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Wellingborough ServiceWe continued to provide a range of services in Wellingborough despite the loss of over 40% of our funding for the area following withdrawal of funding from Wellingborough Homes and Support Northamptonshire in March 2017. CLS remained in the FISH offices and took over the lease to the building in May 2017.Funding for a number of our Countywide Projects was diverted to the Wellingborough area to help meet the demand for advice but our capacity for responding to enquires in respect of Welfare Benefits reduced by over 40% compared to the previous year due to the loss of funding. A very small new grant from Wellingborough Homes was secured to provide some Welfare Benefits telephone advice but overall we were only able to assist 1605 people in the Wellingborough area compared to 2150 in the previous year.

“Without your help i wouldn’t have known I was missing out on the benefits I was entitled to. The extra money has made such a difference to my life and I can’t thank you enough for your support.”

East Northamptonshire Service

“The advice we received made a huge difference to our lives. It helped us sort out which debts to pay first and to get small payments arranged on the others Now we are not so stressed out about money all the time.”

3918 People provided with information services2218 People provided with advice by specialist advisors793 People provided with Debt/Financial Capability advice1179 People provided with Welfare Benefits advice809 People provided with Fuel Poverty advice132 People provided with Housing advice20 People provided with Immigration and Employment Law advice85 People provided with court representation in respect of Housing Repossession95% Success rate at keeping people in their homes

£3,049,216 Welfare Benefit income claimed for clients£3,687,539 Debt managed for client

£3,827,825 Debt was managed on behalf of clients£2,107,254 Welfare Benefit and grant income was claimed for clients

1605 People provided with specialist advice

832 People provided with Welfare Benefits advice

229 People provided with holistic Fuel Poverty Advice

234 People provided with Housing advice and court representation

6 People provided with Employment Law advice

257 People provided with Debt Advice

47 People provided with Immigration law advice

Total: 3,201People provided with

specialist advice

1605

234

832

257

6

229

47

49-53 Hazelwood Road, Northampton NN1 1LG

Tel: (01604) 621038 Fax: (01604) 232412

Email: enquiries@communitylawservice.org.uk Website: www.communitylawservice.org.uk

Twitter: @AdviceNorthants

Registered Charity Number: 1128718

A company limited by guarantee in England No. 6830503