Welcome to this week’s E News on the Citizens Advice Dorset website. The Advice Dorset Partnership is a network of organisations providing advice and support to residents of Dorset and Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole. It is managed by Citizens Advice and is open to any organisation which provides information, advice and support/guidance to local residents.
The Advice Dorset Partnership E news is published fortnightly on a Thursday. However, if there is something urgent in-between we will send out a supplementary edition.
You can now subscribe to the newsletter (it is free and you will get an automatic notification when it is published) – and do encourage colleagues to subscribe too. The subscribe option is at the bottom of this page.
If you would like to send anything out via the bulletin, and for all other enquiries about the Advice Dorset Partnership, contact Thomas Hensher at Citizens Advice Central Dorset: [email protected]
Event: Advice Dorset Partnership – Getting Ready for Winter Workshop
You are invited to attend our winter Advice Dorset Partnership Event. This event will include informative workshops designed to equip partners with up-to-date knowledge on the following:
- The Welfare Benefits System
- Energy Advice
- Debt and Budgeting
.
Information Updates
COST OF LIVING
2025 August Cost of Living Crisis Factsheet
BENEFITS
Managed Migration – Claimants with No Fixed Abode: The DWP is asking advisers to help ensure that homeless Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants do not miss important communications regarding managed migration to Universal Credit (UC). There is a risk that this group will have their benefits stopped if they do not claim UC when notified to do so. For claimants with no fixed abode the DWP states:
- Migration Notice letters are being sent to their correspondence address. This provides all information required for a claim. They should not make a claim without it.
- If they have not received this letter, they should ring the helpline (0800 169 0328) for support to make a digital claim.
You can check the Move to Universal Credit page on GOV.UK.
Advice Networks Call for More than Tokenistic Engagement with Disabled People in PIP Review: In an open letter to DWP Minister Sir Stephen Timms, 18 anti-poverty, disability, carer, advice and co-production organisations – including Citizens Advice – welcome the government’s recognition of the importance of lived experience in policy development. However, the signatories warn that co-production must be about more than ‘consultation and mere presence at the table’. Noting that mistrust in the Department’s willingness to meaningfully engage has deepened in light of the Universal Credit Bill’s recent journey through the Commons and the previous government’s unlawful consultation on changes to incapacity benefits, the letter says –
‘There is a real opportunity here to repair trust … It is clear that the co-production of the review will be put under careful scrutiny by both stakeholders and parliamentarians. If the review is to have credibility and get buy-in from disabled people, MPs and other key stakeholders it’s vital that it is robust, inclusive and transparent.’
Universal Credit Sanction Statistics: New DWP statistics highlight that failure to attend or participate in a mandatory interview is the primary reason for adverse UC sanctions. Failure to attend accounted for 90.8% of all adverse sanction decisions in the last year. For further details read the government statistics here.
Requests to Lift ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF) Is on the Rise: The Unity Project have shared Home Office data which show a continuing rise in applications to lift the no recourse to public funds condition since the pandemic. They quote that numbers have been consistently above 1000 applications per quarter year. The Unity Project also reports:
- There has been an increase in decision making by the Home Office – a jump from 593 decisions at the end of 2024 to 1,735 in the first quarter of 2025
- The average decision making time in 2024 was 111 days and they are predicting that this is likely to rise to 120 days
- Success rates in applications is at an historic low
- Accurate success rate data revealed in the second quarter of 2024 (where the majority of applications have now been decided) is just 44%, down from 73% the year before
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
UK Inflation Rises to 3.8% in July: UK inflation has rose to 3.8% in July driven by food prices and air fares. This will be concerning news for many of our clients who are already struggling with the cost of living crisis.
HOUSING
ONS Data Suggests Renting has Become Unaffordable for Many: New data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed that private rent prices in England, expressed as a percentage of gross monthly income, now costs some renters over a third of their household income. Tenants in Bristol, for example, spent 44.6 percent of their income on rent in 2024, which is well above the 30 per cent deemed “affordable” by the ONS. In England tenants spent an average of 36.3% of their household income on rent. This is concerning news for many Dorset residents who are already struggling with the cost of living.
Council Tax Consultation: The government are seeking views on the administration of council tax including:
- Changing the ways council tax is billed, collected and enforced
- Modernising the support available in the system
- Supporting councils to improve efficiency
The consultation will last until 12 September 2025. Responses can be sent here.
CONSUMER
Shoddy Tradeswork Is Sparking More Than 700 Complaints A Week: The Citizens Advice consumer helpline received almost 37,000 complaints about home maintenance and improvements in the past year. Low-quality services make up more than half (19,281) of complaints.
The top five home maintenance and improvements complaints to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service were:
- Roofing, roof sealing and chimney repairs – 8,126 complaints (22.2%)
- Major renovations including lofts, conversions and extensions – 4,365 complaints (11.9%)
- Window frames and doors – 3,856 complaints (10.6%)
- Plumbers and plumbing – 2,629 complaints (7.2%)
- Fitted kitchens – 2,594 complaints (7.1%)
Jane Parsons, Consumer Expert at Citizens Advice, said: “The summer is a peak time in which people look to improve or renovate their homes and gardens, but unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan.”
Jane’s top tips for people are:
- Find a good trader you can trust: Organisations like your local council and trade associations can give you a list of traders. Your council might list traders they’ve approved online, or they might link to another website that lists traders in your area. Find out more about how to find traders you can trust here.
- Gather evidence: If there’s a problem caused by a trader, you should be able to get it fixed or get some money back. Gather paperwork and receipts, take photos to use as evidence, and make notes about what’s happened – including times and dates. Then take up the problem with the trader who arranged the work. What you do next depends on the type of problem.
- Know your rights: There’s specific advice available here which tells you what to do, based on the different problems you might have with traders and their work – like when they haven’t finished on time, or charged more than expected. Know your rights in each situation. For example, if a trader hasn’t done a good job with ‘reasonable care and skill’, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 entitles you to ask for the problem to be fixed or for a refund.
- If you can’t come to an agreement: There are other steps you can take, including complaining to your card provider in the first instance if you paid by card. Or, you might be able to use ‘alternative dispute resolution’ (ADR) – a way of solving disagreements without going to court. If the trader isn’t part of an ADR scheme, and you’ve already complained to your card provider and the complaint isn’t resolved, you may be able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service to report a problem or if you need more help – a trained adviser can give you advice over the phone or online.
Research and Reports
A Better Fit: How Universal Credit Can Improve Income Stability for Employees with Fluctuating and Non-Monthly Pay: A new report from Citizens Advice explains that, because many recipients of UC have no financial buffer, friction between the monthly UC model and their earnings can lead to financial hardship. Citizens Advice argue that the rigidity of the UC model makes working and receiving UC harder than it needs to be and ask the government to explore a number of suggestions for improvement. Read the report here.
Families with No Recourse to Public Funds are Trapped in Hardship: A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds that half of low-income families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) are falling into destitution – going hungry, with no safety net to catch them. Read the report here.
Upcoming Events & Training
Bid Writing & Finding Funders, Monday 1 September 10:00 – 12:00, Kinson Community Centre: Securing funding is vital for the sustainability and growth of a charity. This training is designed to help UK charities master the art of bid writing and effectively find funders. Book here.
National Rural Conference, Monday 15 September – Thursday 18 September, Online: Aimed at Senior Officers, Members and policy makers along with those working to deliver services in rural areas this conference is an exciting opportunity to hear from expert speakers, network with like minded colleagues and share learning and rural experiences. Book here.
Level 2 Safeguarding Training with Online Safety, Saturday 13 September 09:30 – 16:00, Tinney’s Youth Club Sherborne: This training is suitable for anyone working with children and young people across Dorset that have not attended Level 2 training before. Book here.
How to Handle Volunteer Complaints, Tuesday 23 September, 10:30 – 12:00, online: Managing concerns and complaints from volunteers is essential for maintaining trust, safeguarding wellbeing and strengthening your volunteer involvement. In this session, attendees will learn how to create a safe environment where volunteers feel confident to raise concerns, and how to respond appropriately when they do. Book here.
Policy in Practice – Understanding the impact of disability benefits reforms on local authorities, Wed, 27 August, 10:30 – 11:45 (online): This online webinar could be useful for charities in Dorset to get a better understanding of how the benefits reforms will impact local authorities. Register here.
Funding
Talbot Village Trust: The Small Grants Programme offers individual grants of up to £5,000. Funding can be used to cover core or operating costs, project expenses, or small capital items, such as equipment purchases or minor repairs. The total funding available through the programme is £100,000. It is open to organisations with an annual turnover of less than £250,000. Funding decisions are expected to be made by mid to late October. More information can be found here.
SNG Thriving Communities Fund Launched: Launched on 23 June, the Thriving communities fund is aimed at supporting not-for-profit groups and organisations to deliver cohesive, sustainable, and resilient communities. Click here for all the details.
BCP Thriving Communities Fund: Dorset Community Foundation are offering grants of up to £5,000 supporting capital costs to improve community buildings. The grants are to support capital improvements, for community groups running community buildings in BCP that provide facilities for local community-led groups and activities. Further details can be found here.
Local Alliance Group Funding: Do you have a project you are setting up to support children, young people and families? The Local Alliance Group (LAG) are once more inviting applicants to apply for:
- funding up to £5000 for individual groups/schools, or
- funding up to £20,000 for consortium applications from a group of settings (such as schools, individuals or organisations are also encouraged)
Further details can be found here.
