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: mailto:[email protected]
Jobs
Citizens Advice Central Dorset: Gillingham Foodbank Welfare Benefits & Debt Caseworker. 10 Hours per week / 2 mornings a week, Salary: £14.11 per hour (£7,337 Actual / £27,148 FTE). Location: Gillingham, Dorset. Fixed term to November 2024.
This is a partnership project between Citizens Advice Central Dorset and Gillingham Foodbank. It will reach out to those most in need in the Gillingham community by providing timely advice, information and support, particularly in the areas of welfare benefits and debt. The caseworker will attend the Foodbank on two mornings per week to work directly with those accessing its services. The successful candidate will be an experienced adviser who is used to working in partnership to produce positive outcomes for our clients. Read more / application pack: here. Closing date extended
Information
COST OF LIVING
PPM Vouchers; Many households on traditional prepayment meters are missing out on the government discount being delivered under the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) because vouchers haven’t yet been redeemed. If you work with people who have prepayment meters, please check, and encourage them to act quickly so that they get the benefit of their vouchers
AFP: For clients that use alternative fuels for heating, most eligible households will automatically receive the £200 Alternative Fuel Payments (AFP) credit on their electricity bills from February. A small number of customers will have to apply for their £200 payment via a gov.uk portal, which is due to be launched later this month. More information will be shared on this as soon as it’s available.
Money saving boiler challenge: This campaign, supported by Which, Energy UK and others is encouraging people with a combi boiler to turn down the boiler flow by a single setting; this will make a boiler work more efficiently, saving around £112 a year for the average household. More detail on this can be found on the Which website. Also a reminder of BCP and Ridgewater Energy’s cost of living booklet with lots of information on ways to save money on energy costs, and other support: here.
BENEFITS
Bereavement Benefits (Remedial Order) 2023: This came into force on 9 February, so claims for higher rate Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) from a surviving cohabiting partner with dependent children, who was living with the deceased at the time of death, can now be made. Retrospective claims can be made back to 30 August 2018, for higher rate BSP if the death occurred on or after 6 April 2017 or for Widowed Parents Allowance (WPA) for deaths before that. All other conditions of entitlement need to be fulfilled. Claims must be made within 12 months of 9 February. Those who have claimed and been refused before (including on appeal) can reclaim. Read the DWP Guidance memo here.
The Order also provides for a 12-month capital disregard for retrospective payments of WPA and BSP in Universal Credit (UC), legacy benefits (but not tax credits) and Pension Credit. For tax credits BSP is ignored as income (either ongoing or lump sum payments) but WPA is not. Any lump sum arrears of WPA will be treated as income for tax credits for the tax year in which it is received. Also, as WPA is taxable, any retrospective payments may lead to a revised tax liability for the year(s) in which there was an entitlement.
Support for Mortgage Interest: Those who qualify for Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) usually get help paying the interest on up to £200,000 of their loan or mortgage. The DWP has confirmed that the interest rate charge on loans for mortgage interest increased to £3.03 from 1 January 2023. Read more about SMI here.
More on the impact of the AET change: As previously reported, the Administrative Earnings Threshold of Universal Credit (Govt info here) increased on 30 January, meaning more claimants will move from a ‘light touch’ – not needing to engage with the Jobcentre – into regular contact with a dedicated work coach. DWP’s Touchbase explains more about what this means in practice: Part of the changes include regular, fortnightly appointments with a work coach as well as claimants having access to the full range of Jobcentre Plus support, including the Flexible Support Fund to help address any barriers to progression. Work coaches will schedule these meetings outside of a claimant’s working hours. A claimant can limit their work availability if they have a health condition or have caring responsibilities – either for a disabled person or young children.
HOUSING
Update to Homeless Code of Guidance: The Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has updated the Homeless Code of Guidance with a new chapter on providing assistance to eligible homeless persons who are victims of violence – here.
OTHER
Turkey/Syria earthquake: You may have clients who have families affected by this disaster. The Red Cross has a useful section on supporting families in the UK who have relatives in the affected areas – here.
LOCAL NEWS
Apprenticeships: Although National Apprenticeship Week was last week, there is useful local information here for Hampshire and Dorset. Govt information is here.
Dorset Youth Mental Health Hub: This website is a useful source of information on mental health and emotional support services in Dorset, including anxiety, eating disorders, addiction, self harm and suicide, and more.
Events
Student Volunteering Week 13 to 19 February: Student Volunteering Week is a week to appreciate the student’s impact on their communities and promotes student volunteering. Read more here. Many organisations are promoting the vital contributions of student volunteers – for example see this blog from Citizens Advice.
Citizens Advice – February Cost of Living Briefing: Thursday 23 February 11.30 on-line). Book via eventbrite.
Surveys
Rural cost of living survey: The Rural Services Network and Citizens Advice Rural Issues Group have together launched an online survey, aimed at households, asking about the cost of living. There are questions on types of heating, disposable income and whether people are having to cut back on things. It would be good to get this survey out to households, not least those facing particular cost of living pressures.
Dorset Skills Needs Survey: Employers and managers across Dorset are asked to complete a short online survey to help understand the skills needed for the county’s workforce to thrive and businesses to grow. The results will be used to shape the provision of all the training providers operating in the post-16 Education and Training system. This may include apprenticeships, T-levels or other workplace learning opportunities as well as online and college based courses. It’s important the VCSE sector responds so its not just driven by the private sector, and to highlight any training needs we specifically need in the sector such as fundraising skills and volunteer management. Here is the survey which takes 10-15 minutes to complete.
Research, reports, blogs and podcasts
Stop Loan Sharks – winter newsletter: Includes news on the national campaign #LetsTalkLoanSharks, success stories, training, and support for the deaf community – the IMLT can provide a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter for deaf people who are affected by illegal money lending. Read more here.
Bailiff practice survey: The Taking Control campaign for bailiff reform is running a survey of debt advisers on current bailiff practice. The survey closes on 6 March – and is on survey monkey here.
Financial loss on moving from legacy benefits – High Court judgment: On 21 January 2022 in R(on the application of) TP and AR (TP and AR No.3) the High Court found that the DWP had discriminated against the appellants (TP and AR) when it failed to fully compensate them for the financial loss they incurred when they were naturally migrated from legacy benefits to Universal Credit (UC). Following this, the two severely disabled men known as TP and AR have called on the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to compensate up to 50,000 vulnerable benefits claimants who have been unlawfully stripped of benefits worth thousands of pounds. Read the press release on the Leigh Day website.
Govt announcement on damp and mould: Following the death of Awaab Ishaak, the Govt has announced that social housing landlords will have to investigate and fix damp and mould in their properties within strict new time limits. A consultation will be launched later this year to set the timeframes within which landlords will have to act to investigate hazards and make repairs. The new rules will form part of the tenancy agreement, so tenants can hold landlords to account by law if they fail to provide a decent home. Read the press release here.
High Court decision on Universal Credit overpayment due to ‘official error’: In a recent case, the High Court has ruled that a DWP decision not to waive recovery of an official error overpayment was unlawful. Although the claimant took ‘all reasonable steps to repeatedly clarify her entitlement’, the DWP repeatedly miscalculated her entitlement to Universal Credit. She asked the DWP to waive recovery, but it refused to do so, applying the policy contained in its Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide – here. The High Court decided that the Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide itself is not unlawful. However, the DWP’s decision to refuse to waive the overpayment in this case was unlawful because it had failed to properly take into account whether recovery was in the public interest, and the claimant had relied on the overpayment to her detriment. Read the decision here. For more detail, and a slightly more colourful report on this case, go to the Benefits & Work website here.
Martin Lewis podcast: This recent podcast covers dealing with water bills, student finance, and other savings tips.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation – UK Poverty 2023: JRF’s report looks at recent trends to understand the current situation and future prospects.
Funding News
The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust: Grants of £1k or £5k. In 2023, the first two rounds will be focused on rehabilitation of prisoners, ex-prisoners, and those at risk of offending. The third and fourth round on children and young people in care and care leavers. Closing date for round 1: 28 February. Read more here.
UK Youth – Cost of Living Fund: UK Youth, in partnership with Pears Foundation, is offering unrestricted multi-year grants for charitable and not-for-profit youth organisations across the UK with an annual turnover of less than £500,000 to help them cover rising prices and increased costs due to the cost-of-living crisis.
Through the Cost-of-Living Fund, a total of £4.5 million is available to provide multi-year grants of approximately 10% of the turnover of an organisation per year. These are intended to help bring stability to youth organisations and to help mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, ensuring groups can cover bills, pay staff salaries, and continue to operate. Successful applicants will receive three grant payments, each a year apart. This is a rolling programme; read more here.
McCarthy Stone Foundation – Winter Warm Spaces Support Grants: Grants are available to support small clubs and organisations in the UK who can provide a regular warm space for older people to meet during the cost-of-living crisis. The total fund available is £30,000. Forty grants, each for £750, are available.
Project costs that could be supported by the grant, such as lunch clubs, coffee mornings or memory cafes. Closing date 28 February 2023. Read more here.
