Advice Dorset Partnership E News No. 15, 23 October 2025

23/10/2025
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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]

ADP Getting Ready for Winter Workshops – 28.10.2025

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our morning of workshops next week. The purpose of the morning is the following:

Equip partner staff with key knowledge to support residents this winter
Build confidence in signposting and referring to Citizens Advice
Share practical tools and updates around benefits, energy, and debt
Strengthen partnership working across services
Help more people stay warm, safe, and financially secure this winter

When: Tuesday 28 October 9.30am – 1pm

Where: The Dorford Centre, Bridport Road, Dorchester, DT1 1RR

Job Opportunity

Chief Executive Officer – East Dorset & Purbeck Citizens Advice

EDP are recruiting for their new Chief Executive Officer to lead Citizens Advice in East Dorset & Purbeck and make a difference to the people they help and support in our local community.

EDP are looking for an inspiring, approachable and experienced person, who will ensure the effective and successful delivery of our local advice and advocacy services.

You must have experience of working in the charity sector, have the ability to be innovative and identify new opportunities to develop the service to ensure the organisation meets future challenges in a competitive market.

This is a full time role (37 hours per week) with some evening work required. You will work from the Citizens Advice offices in Wareham and Wimborne with the potential to work from home in the future. You will be expected to live in the area or very nearby once in post.

Sounds of interest? EDP would love to hear from you. To find out more about the role, including how to apply, please email [email protected] and ask for a candidate pack.

Application Timeline:

Application deadline: Noon, Wednesday 12^th November, 2025

Interviews: 25^th or 27^th November, 2025

Start date: early 2026

Information Updates

COST OF LIVING

2025 October Cost-of-Living-Crisis-factsheet

HOUSING

Renters Rights: The Renters’ Rights Bill has reached its final stage after passing through parliament yesterday (Wednesday 22 October). It is expected that it will receive Royal Assent within a few weeks and become law. The bill will:

Abolish section 21 evictions and move to a simpler tenancy structure where all assured tenancies are periodic.
Ensure possession grounds are fair to both parties, with new safeguards for tenants.
Provide stronger protections against backdoor eviction by enabling appeals on excessive above-market rents.
Introduce a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman for impartial and binding dispute resolution.
Create a Private Rented Sector Database to support landlords, tenants, and enforcement activity.
Give tenants strengthened rights to request a pet in the property.
Apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector.
Apply ‘Awaab’s Law’ to set legal expectations on landlords addressing serious hazards promptly.
Make it illegal for landlords and agents to discriminate against tenants receiving benefits or with children.
End the practice of rental bidding by prohibiting offers above the advertised rent.
Strengthen local authority enforcement with expanded civil penalties and investigatory powers.
Strengthen rent repayment orders by extending scope, increasing penalties, and targeting repeat offenders.

Government Guidance Now Issued on Phase 1 of Awaab’s Law: This guidance for social landlords includes information in relation to damp and mould hazards relating to the first phase of the implementation of the new Awaab’s law. The new requirements will be in force from 27 October 2025.

IMMIGRATION

Review of the Temporary Shortage List (TSL) by Migration Advisory Committee (MAC): Earlier this year the government announced in its Immigration White Paper that it would abolish the Immigration Salary List (ISL) and replace it with a new Temporary Shortage List (TSL). The ISL and now TSL is a list of shortage occupations with lower entry level requirements. They provide a route for skilled workers to enter the UK to fill genuine labour shortage gaps.

The TSL was introduced in the Immigration Rules on 22 July 2025 and MAC was commissioned by the Government to review the jobs that should be included on it.

MAC has now completed the first stage of its two stage review process and has produced a proposed list of around 82 jobs to be considered to be included in the TSL on a temporary basis. This list is subject to a further consultation with stakeholders and should be completed by July 2026.

In its initial report MAC has recommended:

Jobs for the TSL should remain on it for between 3-5 years. This will quickly fill gaps in the labour market, allow for short term needs to be assessed and for a local labour market to develop
Leave should be for 3-5 years with no extension beyond 5 years if the TSL is for temporary work only
A minimum language requirement of B1 to reduce worker exploitation and promote a better understanding of their rights

You can read the Temporary Shortage List: Stage 1 report on GOV.UK.

CONSUMER

Halloween Safety Warning
The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) has tips for keeping children safe at Halloween:

Remember Halloween costumes are highly flammable
Check costume labels for a UKCA or CE mark
Encourage children to layer up. This can help protect their skin if their costume catches fire.
Teach children to Stop, Drop and Roll

Warning About Solid Wall Insulation Installed Under the Energy Company Obligation: The National Audit Office (NAO) have carried out an audit on solid wall insulation installed under:

The Great British Insulation Scheme
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4)

The report shows that 98% of homes with external wall insulation and 29% of homes with internal wall insulation need work to correct major issues. Left unremedied, it can lead to problems such as damp and mould.

Research and Reports

The National Red Index 2025: The National Red Index is a measure of the proportion of households in England and Wales who are in a negative budget – where their incomes are too low to cover the bare essentials each month. Citizens Advice research shows that households in a negative budget have deep monthly deficits, potentially set to grow even deeper this year, which in turn is driving a rapid rise in household debt. Read the report here.

State of Caring 2025: On 21 October 2025, Carers UK published State of Caring 2025: The cost of caring – the impact of caring across carers’ lives – the largest in-depth study of unpaid carers in the UK. Over 10,500 carers shared their experiences with us this year, providing unique insight into the pressures facing the 5.8 million people who provide unpaid care worth £184 billion annually. Read the report here.

Transforming Engagement with Disabled Benefits Claimants through a Case Worker Model: The Pathways to Work green paper proposes to offer a ‘support conversation’ to anyone on out of work benefits with a work limiting health condition or disability who wants support. The intention of this conversation is to identify claimants’ needs and goals and to signpost them to available support. A new Citizens Advice paper proposes applying a case worker model to the support conversation. Read the paper here.

Upcoming Events & Training

REACH Recovery Conference, Wednesday 19th November, 10am-3pm at the Dorford Centre, 2 Bridport Road Dorchester: Come and join the REACH team for a day filled with inspiring talks, interactive workshops, information stalls, and networking opportunities. Whether you work with people in recovery, or are in recovery yourself, supporting a loved one, or just interested in learning more about how REACH supports people in recovery, this event is for you. Book a place here by 31st October.

Celebrate Black History Month, Saturday 25th October, 6pm at the Corn Exchange on High West Street, Dorchester: October is Black History Month and this year’s theme is Standing Firm in Power and Pride. Join the South West Dorset Multicultural Network for an evening of poetry and music.

Dorset VCSE Safeguarding, Wednesday 19th November 2025, 10am-3pm, The Hamworthy Club, Magna Road, Canford Magna BH21 3AP: What does Safeguarding mean to you? Are you responsible for Safeguarding in your organisation? The Safeguarding Adults Board are holding a free Safeguarding conference so that you can find out more about good practice, what safeguarding is and where you can get support from. This is an opportunity to share your experiences and learn from the experts. Come along and find out what the Adult Safeguarding Board is about and what you need to know when you have concerns. There will be lots of networking opportunities, an opportunity to sign up to the CEG (Community and Engagement sub group of the Safeguarding Board) plus refreshments and lunch.

Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to enhance your knowledge and skills in safeguarding. Register now to secure your spot at Dorset’s VCSE Safeguarding Conference! Book your place here.

Funding

Community and Culture Project Fund Round 10: The fund provides small grants to organisations who want to start new activities and events that benefit the local community. They prioritise applications that supports residents and those groups that are marginalised, disadvantaged or hard to reach. The fund is a small project grant, funding up to 80% of total project costs. Grants are from £1,000 to £5,000.

The key dates for this round are: