Welcome to this week’s E News on the Citizens Advice Dorset website. Just a reminder that 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, BUT if there is something urgent in-between we will send out a short supplementary edition.
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If you would like to send anything out via the bulletin, and for all other enquiries about the Advice Dorset Partnership, contact Caroline Buxton at Citizens Advice Central Dorset: [email protected]
Information updates
BENEFITS
The ending of Tax Credits (TC): No one can renew a TC claim for the 2025/26 tax year. All TC payments will end on 5 April 2025. TC claimants will be able to receive a migration notice with a deadline of less than 3 months. The deadline day will be 5 April. If a client has a nil award of TC, it’s worth checking whether they can gain entitlement by reporting a change of circumstances, or reporting a new income estimate if their income has dropped. This should be done as soon as possible so there’s still time to get an award of TC, receive a migration notice, and make a claim for Universal Credit (UC) before TCs end on 5 April. The DWP has confirmed that if a TC claimant has a nil award on 5 April, they’ll miss out on transitional protection. A useful summary is here on the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group website.
Moving to UC – complex case coach guidance and failed interactions: Following a Freedom of Information request the guidance document for work coaches on complex cases is here. What do you know have also submitted a FoI request regarding failed interactions – here.
Mixed age couples moving from Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to UC: A UC claimant who has stopped getting ESA due to turning pension age will now have limited capability for work, or limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA), if they claim UC within a month of the ESA ending. The LCWRA element can be paid straight away without a waiting period. Read more here.
EMPLOYMENT
Extension of Employment Tribunal (ET) time limits: This article explains the implications of finding new evidence for ET claims outside of the ordinary time limits for ET claims (limitation). There is also a Medium article – here – on making late claims in discrimination cases.
Employed or Self-employed?: At times this can be a complex area. ACAS covers employment status here. There is also a Govt online tool – here – for tax purposes.
FAMILY
Divorce paperwork: People can now search – here – and obtain a copy of a Final Order or Decree Absolute online. The service costs £65 for each 10 year period search
IMMIGRATION
Home Office Escalation Service for the creation of an eVisa account: This service has been introduced to help anyone who is homeless, rough sleeping or at imminent risk of this and who does not have identity documents to create the account themselves. Advisers can email [email protected] with an email address and telephone number for their client along with a consent form. It will also help to provide the clients’ nationality if possible.
OISC now IAA: The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner is now the Immigration Advice Authority – read more here.
CONSUMER & SCAMS
Telecoms mid-contract inflation-linked price rise ban: From 17 January 2025, phone, broadband and pay TV providers will be banned from including inflation-linked, or percentage-based, price rise terms in all new contracts. This means consumers will be able to enter into contracts featuring £/p information ahead of annual price rises in 2025. Read Ofcom’s press release here.
Digital landline switchover scams: Criminals are impersonating BT in order to exploit the switchover to digital landlines. They are cold calling people, asking them to confirm personal and payment information. Some of these calls have involved asking people for payments to move to the digital service – victims have been threatened with immediate disconnection if they refuse. Landline providers will never ask people to make payments or verify payment information for the landline to be upgraded to the digital service. Read the Which? article here.
Events
Energy Savers Week – 20 to 26 January: Remember the Top Five Tips: check your radiators, keep your rooms at the lowest comfortable temperature, check your boiler’s flow, book in a boiler service, don’t rely on portable electric heaters. Read more here.
Policy in Practice webinar – 29 January, 1.30 to 11.45 – Navigating the debt landscape in 2025 – Emerging challenges and support strategies: This webinar will explore the key financial challenges facing households in 2025, and how organisations are responding to help people before they reach a crisis. More information and registration here.
Food Resilience in Dorset: Zoom event, organised by Help&Kindness, Monday 27 January 7 – 8.45pm. Calling all of you already working with food, as well as parish, town and county councillors: let us gather to see how we can support each other to create a local, sustainable, healthy, fair and affordable food system throughout the county. This is the time to forge the links, join the dots, see what’s thriving and where the gaps are, so that we can create Food Resilience in Dorset. Register here, or for more information email [email protected] or phone 01305 59 59 58.
Digital Skills Hub event – Thrive in 2025 – Thursday 30 January: The Digital Skills Hub in partnership with the NHS is excited to announce the Thrive in 2025 careers fair. Join this event on 30 January, 10am until 6pm at the old Peacocks Store in the Sovereign Centre, Boscombe, for a free event packed with opportunities in training, education, employment, and wellbeing. No booking required.
Wessex Water Community Drop-Ins: If you want advice or have a question about WW services, you can speak to them in person at one of their Community Drop-In sessions. This includes information on billing queries, or support if you are struggling to pay. Various dates are here for sessions in Blandford, Bridport, Dorchester, Gillingham, Poole.
Reports, research etc
Work & Pensions committee – safeguarding vulnerable claimants: Citizens Advice has submitted evidence to this committee – read it here.
Citizens Advice Press Release -Nearly £50 million lost on fees for failed and unsuitable debt solutions: Recent research shows that people in debt have lost £48.8 million on fees for failed Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA), with many steered into an inappropriate debt solution by unscrupulous firms offering bad advice. Read more here.
We are Citizens Advice – Blue Badges: This blog talks about the accessibility of blue badges, which allow disabled people to park closer to their destination, park on yellow lines for a period of time and get free parking in some places. We have seen an increase in people seeking support from Citizens Advice over blue badge issues – the two main problems driving this trend are: more and more councils are moving their Blue Badge applications fully online, and people aren’t always being reminded to renew their badge before it expires
Illegal Money Lending Team 2024 report: The findings in this report are based on responses from 164 borrowers helped last year by the Stop Loan Sharks team, and emphasise that anyone could be a borrower from an illegal money lender.
SLS-Borrower Support Report for partners2024.FINAL
Consultation on changes to work capability assessment (WCA) ‘so unfair as to be unlawful’: In 2023 an 8 week consultation was launched to get views on reforming the WCA. When the consultation closed, the government announced it intended to go ahead with changes to the WCA. The consultation was challenged by judicial review, arguing that it was unlawful because it framed the changes as support for disabled people entering work without clearly stating that these claimants would face significant reductions to their benefit. Additionally, consultees were not given enough time to provide meaningful feedback. The judicial review was allowed; Justice Calver granted a declaration that the consultation was unlawful, and said it was ‘misleading’, ‘rushed’ and ‘unfair’. However, reforms to benefits are still likely to go ahead, and the DWP is expected to publish a green paper in the next few weeks consulting on proposed changes.’ Read more on the Benefits and Work website here.
Funding news
WCIT – IT4Good Grant Programme: Grants are available for not-for-profit organisations across the UK to deliver IT projects and activities that support the themes of education, inclusion, IT for charities, and understanding of IT. Grants of up to £15,000 are available. Grants over £15,000 may be considered in exceptional circumstances. Projects that are more likely to be funded include:
- The development and delivery of new services, solutions, training, apps, analytics, AI, robotics, or accessibility features/hardware.
- Projects where WCIT is a material or sole funder.
- Projects where WCIT is the sole funder of the IT component of a larger project.
- Organisations that could benefit from pro-bono support.
Proposed projects should demonstrate an innovative use of IT, be scalable for wider replication, and be sustainable over time. The next deadline for applications is 10 February 2024 (17:00). Read more here.
Christchurch Charitable Trust (CCT): CCT is a local, independent, charity which provides grants for projects which benefit the community in the Christchurch area, which is defined as the former Borough of Christchurch. It is keen to support worthwhile community projects that need funds to help achieve their goals. The application needs to be for charitable purposes which include:
- providing funds to support services to vulnerable groups in the community, be they the young or elderly or those with disabilities or other disadvantages
- the advancement of community cohesion and development (including supporting the running of community events)
- the advancement of education, health, heritage and environmental protection & improvement.
Most grants will be in the £500 to £5,000 range. Applications for identifiable projects and ones that are either run by or include volunteers will be preferred.
Applications are now open with a deadline of 10 March 2025, for consideration at their next Trustee meeting. Read more here.