The Advice Dorset Partnership E news is published fortnightly on a Thursday, BUT if there is something urgent in-between we will send out a short supplementary edition.
As usual feel free to forward this email to colleagues and they can get in touch with us if they wish to go on the list. If you would like to send anything out via the bulletin, and for all other enquiries about the Advice Dorset Partnership, contact Caroline Buxton on her Citizens Advice Central Dorset email: caroline.buxton
Jobs
Citizens Advice Central Dorset – Finance Support Assistant: CACD has four offices in Dorchester, Sherborne, Gillingham and Weymouth as well as a number of outreach projects serving the local community. We are looking for someone to join our finance team who has experience of working in an accounts based setting who is organised, efficient and has a strong attention to detail. You will be supported by the Finance Manager but be responsible for a number of account processes such as inputting supplier invoices, raising payments, reconciling the bank statement and checking expenses. You should be able to work independently and have excellent organisational and communication skills. You will be confident with a wide range of IT applications and be familiar with using accounting software; a knowledge of QuickBooks is desirable
Hours: 8 Hours per week. Salary: £13.76 per hour (£5,724 Actual / £26,474 FTE). Term: Permanent. Location: Dorchester / Hybrid.
Closing Date: 1pm Thursday 19th October 2023. Read more here.
Information
COST OF LIVING
October Quick Links fact sheet:
Dates for next cost of living payment: The second low income cost of living payment for 2023/2024 will be made between 31 October and 19 November 2023. To be eligible a claimant must be entitled to:
- Universal Credit for an assessment period that ended between 18 August – 17 September 2023: or
- Income based jobseekers allowance, income-related employment support allowance, income support or pension credit for any period between 18 August – 17 September 2023; or
- For tax credits, a claimant must have received a payment for any day in the period between 18 August to 17 September 2023. Tax credits only claimants should receive a payment between 10 November and 19 November 2023.
Read more here.
Ofgem PPM rules: Following consultation Ofgem have published new rules around involuntary fitting of prepayment meters (PPMs), which will take effect from 8 November. These extend protections to people over 75 and households with children aged under 2, among other groups. Read more on Ofgem.
UKRAINE & AFGHAN REFUGEE INFO
Council Tax and Homes for Ukraine: Ukrainians that arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme may be choosing to move on from sponsored to privately rented accommodation. The position in England and Wales is that they are ‘invisible’ for the purposes of council tax discounts or exemptions, for example:
- if moving into a property with a single person getting the 25% discount, that person will continue to get the discount
- if moving into an exempt property (for example, one occupied only by students or those exempt due to severe mental impairment) that property will continue to be exempt
NB: Ukrainians living alone or solely with other Ukrainians that arrived under the scheme will be liable for council tax at a rate of 50%.
SureStart Maternity Grant: Usually people who already have children under 16 cannot claim a grant for for a new baby. However, people who have refugee status, humanitarian protection or have come to the UK from Afghanistan or Ukraine can do so, if they meet the benefit related criteria and:
- left Afghanistan because of the collapse of the Afghan government which happened on 15 August 2021
- were resident in Ukraine immediately before 1 January 2022 and left because of the Russian invasion which happened on 24 February 2022
Normally a claim must be made before the baby is 6 months old, BUT parents or guardians who meet the Afghan or Ukrainian criteria but didn’t apply for an SSMG within 6 months of their baby being born, can now make a claim up to 8 December 2023. Read more here.
Homes for Ukraine – children left with host: The government guidance on this has been strengthened to say that parents / guardians must not leave their children in the care of the host for a long time – no more than 28 days – or repeatedly. Any proposal to leave the children for longer than 28 days requires additional safeguarding checks by the local council. Read more here.
ENERGY
Warm Home Discount: The Warm Home Discount (WHD) scheme was first introduced in 2011. Under the scheme, larger energy suppliers must deliver support to households that are considered the most vulnerable; the WHD is £150 off electricity bills. The support will be automatically delivered to eligible people through their energy bills. Schemes open shortly. Eligibility:
- on Pension Credit (guarantee element)
- on a low income with high energy costs [core group2] IF supplier is part of scheme
People will either receive a letter to confirm eligibility, or a letter which says it hasn’t been possible to establish whether the household is eligible – in this instance the letter will contain a helpline for people to call. Read more on the Govt’s website here, and a useful Adviser Online articles is here. There is a separate scheme for people in Park Homes.
Great British Insulation Scheme: The Great British Insulation Scheme has launched. This offers support to receive free or cheaper household insulation. Please note this is also applicable to park homes. Energy advisers can use the Government website to help clients to apply. Read more here.
Local Energy Support:
LEAP: The Local Energy Advice Partnership is a FREE home visit scheme to assist residents throughout Dorset with free energy advice, energy saving devices, along with access to other improvements like heating upgrades, insulation, free appliances and replacement boilers. The 2023-24 funding for ‘LEAP Boilers’ in Dorset, has now reopened The LEAP Boiler scheme is only applicable to homeowners with a broken boiler and in a no-heat situation. There is still funding for ‘LEAP Appliances’. Appliances must be over 9 years old to qualify. Please apply through Ridgewater Energy directly: more information and an online form are here.
HUG: Dorset Council and BCP Council have launched the Home Upgrade Grant, which is designed to improve the energy efficiency of homes across Dorset. The scheme enables homeowners and private renters to access funded energy saving measures such as loft & cavity wall insulation, external wall insulation, heating upgrades, air source heat pumps and solar panels. The HUG2 scheme will help reduce energy use and fuel costs for residents who live in the lower energy rated homes (EPC D to G) and heat their homes with a fuel other than mains gas such as electric heaters, oil and LPG boilers and solid fuel heating. More information and online self-referral form are on the Ridgewater website here.
HOUSING
New version of the How to Rent Guide: From 2 October 2023 landlords and letting agents are required to provide a new version of the How to Rent Guide – here – to all tenants who start an assured shorthold tenancy. The new version of the guide includes details of the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS). The guide can be given to the tenant as a hard copy, or by email where the tenant has expressly agreed to being sent a copy by email. A failure by the landlord or letting agent to provide the correct version of the guide will invalidate a section 21 notice and could provide a defence to possession proceedings at court.
Government guidance on damp and mould: The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has published guidance on understanding and addressing the health risks of damp and mould in the home. Although this has no statutory force, it provides useful summaries on legal obligations and standards including how to enforce them. The guidance retierates that tenants should not be blamed for damp and mould. Read more here.
Events
Black History Month: Black History Month is an occasion to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of Black people to British society. The theme for Black History Month 2023 (October) is ‘Saluting our Sisters’. It highlights the crucial role Black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change and building communities. Read more here.
Citizens Advice Cost of Living Briefing: Tuesday 10 October 11am. This month’s event will be hosted virtually during the Labour Party Conference and will look at what’s going wrong with policy making and explore panellist’s thoughts on how to fix it. Half of the people coming to Citizens Advice for help with debt have a negative budget, and we’re also supporting more and more people who haven’t come to us before, like mortgage holders and those in full time employment. Book via eventbrite.
World Mental Health Day – 10 October: The theme for 2023, set by the World Foundation of Mental Health, is ‘Mental health is a universal human right’. World Mental Health Day is about raising awareness of mental health and driving positive change for everyone’s mental health. Read more on the Mental Health Foundation website here.
National Consumer Campaign – 16-22 October: The October 2023 focus will help advise consumers of their rights and how to protect themselves in the lead up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when looking for deals or shopping in the lead up to the festive season. Consumer info from Citizens Advice is here.
Research, reports etc
Qualitative research with UC telephone claimants: New DWP research has found that most universal credit telephone claimants report that moving to an online claim is not a realistic option for them. Setting out the findings from interviews carried out with 30 universal credit claimants that either applied via telephone or now manage their claim via telephone, the DWP reports that claimants face multiple barriers to applying online, which in combination make it ‘prohibitively difficult’ and, as a result, they feel a telephone application is their only option rather than a choice. Read more here.
Citizens Advice Cost of Living dashboard: Here is the September CoL dashboard; the briefing highlighted housing issues in particular, noting an increase in section 21 notices, often because rents are unaffordable, confirmed by an average mismatch between private rents and Local Housing Allowance (LHA) of £140 pcm.
Debt Time Bomb – countdown to a household debt disaster: This new Citizens Advice report lays bare the scale of debts on household bills and benefits overpayments. Citizens Advice has found that: Nationally, household bill debt has reached an estimated £22 billion – a tip of the iceberg figure that doesn’t include water or rent arrears due to limited availability of data on these key debts. One in four people (27%) are currently behind on at least one bill. Read more here.
Divorce applications lower than last year: The latest Family Court statistics for April – June 2023 have been published and reveal divorce applications are 30% down on the same period last year, however there was an increase last year due to the introduction of no fault divorce. The figures confirm an average time of 29 weeks after applying to reach a conditional order and 37.5 weeks to final order. The majority of applications were sole applications (75%) with 25% joint. Information on the ‘new’ divorce process is here.
Age UK research and petition – Offline and Overlooked: New analysis carried out by Age UK reveals that almost half (46%) of over-65s in the UK are unable to complete all eight of the most fundamental tasks required to use the internet safely and successfully. The figures also show, the worst effected of this group are those over the age of 75. The Charity says this shows that the headlong rush towards ‘digital by default’ is excluding millions of older people from being able to access and use the essential public services they need – including some for which they are the target audience and principal users. Read more here.
Funding News
BCP Food and Energy Support Fund: Grants are available to groups for projects which address insecurity around food and energy by providing direct solutions in the Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council area. This scheme is administered by Dorset Community Foundation (DCF).
Round 2 will offer grants of up to £7,500 to support additional winter activities such as Warm Welcome spaces and other food and energy initiatives. Groups who did not apply in the first round will be a priority. More information on the Dorset Community Foundation website here.
Wessex Water Community Fund: Grants are available to voluntary sector groups based and working in Dorset or Ringwood where a small amount of money can make a significant difference. Wessex Water are looking to support community-based activities or projects that meet a local need and seek to improve the lives of local people. There is a priority to support:
- activities taking place in areas of multiple deprivation or rural isolation where people lack access to local services
- activities that help build stronger communities – enabling people to work together and create solutions to local challenges
- activities that support people who lack access to services
- activities that help people take steps to manage or avoid debt and build their financial capability. This can include activities that raises awareness and take up of utility affordability support such as the Wessex Water schemes.
Grants of up to £4,000 are available. The grant can be used towards a new activity or continuing something that is already happening. The deadline for applications is 23 October 2023. More info on the Dorset Community Foundation website here.