Annual Review 2015 - 2016 - Citizens Advice · Annual Review 2015 - 2016 Free, Independent,...

Cheadle Citizens Advice

Annual Review

2015 - 2016 Free, Independent, Confidential and Impartial Advice

Charity Commission No: 1128833 Company No:6537196

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Meet The Team

Staff Members Shelagh Bacchus - Chief Officer Julie Billingham - Office Manager

Angela Brownsword - Advice Services Manager Therese Davall - ASTF Project Co-ordinator/Trainer

Dawn Keates - MAS DAP Caseworker/Financial Capability Assessor Tom Castle - MAS DAP Caseworker Lindon Parr - MAS DAP Caseworker

Matthew Frost - ASTF Benefits Adviser/MAS DAP Administrator Bianca Pedder - ASTF Administrator

Lyndsey Mollison - Business Development Officer Kathryn Bentham - Training Assistant

Volunteer Advisers/Gateway Assessors Wendy Tipper Elaine Beardmore

Brenda Fry Barbara Rothwell

Gillian Smallwood Rosemary Thomas

Frances Mulholland Kim Taylor

Robert Sunderland Clive Shakeshaft

Elizabeth Purslow Michael Smolarz-Lambert

Tom Castle Linda Kocierz

Sarah Longley Michelle Penaluna

Gerald Edwards Diane Sharman

Trainee Volunteer Advisers/Gateway Assessors Stephen Haines

Volunteer Administration Workers Brenda Riley Brenda Philps

Zoe Ashley Scott Pearson

Last year the value of our volunteers was £114,104


Free, Confidential, Impartial, Independent Advice

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2015/16 has been a challenging and busy year for the Cheadle Citizens Advice. Many people

within our community have been faced with rising living costs and often adverse changes to the

benefit and tax credit systems. The need for our service has never been greater as we strive to

help people resolve their problems, either directly or by supporting them to help themselves.

Examples of tangible benefits that we secure for those we help include substantial increases in

household incomes for some of the least well off in our community including reduced levels of

debt and improvements in health and well-being are detailed within this report. These

achievements are not only positive outcomes for the people concerned but they are also of

benefit to the local economy and provide cost savings for public agencies and service providers.

We also showed as an organisation that we can evolve in the face of difficult challenges. We

have secured new funding to set up and train a volunteer money skills team to help people build

financial resilience and begin a community education programme. This year we also held scams

awareness sessions to help consumers build confidence.

All of this is possible because of our staff and volunteers who work unstintingly and give so much

of their time and commitment to help ensure that we give the best service we can to the residents

of Cheadle and the surrounding areas. Without the volunteers who range from our Trustee

Board to our Assessors, Advisers and Admin team there would be no service to those most in

need. Without the paid staff we would not be able to run an efficient and seamless service. My

thanks go to you all.

We also remain extremely grateful to all those who provided financial backing to the charity in

2015/16 especially Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and Cheadle Town Council who have

sustained support over many years.

My message going forward is that Cheadle Citizens Advice must continue to evolve and be

flexible in its outlook. It will be essential to look for new income streams and take advantage of

new opportunities to ensure that we deliver a service that is relevant to the needs of our

community and ensures the Charity's sustainability. Standing still is not an option.

Julie Billingham - Manager

Manager’s Report



Of the 1,699 enquiries dealt with last year:-

▲ 47.14% were dealt with at the gateway stage

▲ 28.01% were dealt with through general advice

▲ 20.07% were dealt with at casework level

▲ 3.76% required information only

▲ 1.02% required advice and referral

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During our drop in advice sessions we are seeing more and more complex cases which involve several

visits and interventions and demonstrate the need for face to face support.

Example 1 -Client attended for help to complete a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) form as he was

in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Middle Rate Care and Low Rate Mobility and DLA was

being replaced by PIP. Client suffered from severe anxiety, flash backs, depression, arthritis and chronic

back pain and was under the care of the Brandon Centre for his mental health issues. An adviser

completed the form with him and client was awarded PIP High Rate Mobility £57.45 per week (as his

condition had worsened) but he scored no points for his Daily Living personal care element. We assisted

with the Mandatory reconsideration however the decision was not changed so client needed help to

appeal. We assisted with preparation for the appeal which he won and was awarded Standard rate of

Daily Living Personal Care.

As a consequence of losing his PIP Daily Living Personal Care he lost his Severe Disability Premium on

his ESA and was overpaid ESA benefit of £308 because he failed to notify the DWP. A mandatory

reconsideration request was completed with the client however the decision was not changed so he

appealed.

The client won his PIP appeal and a benefit check showed that he would receive PIP daily living

component £55.10 per week backdated to the date of his claim and the SDP of £61.85 per week would be

reinstated with his ESA benefit claim and therefore his ESA overpayment would be written off .

After 10 months and 13 hours of advice and intervention our client was awarded a total of £12,516 in

annualised payments, back payments and lump sums brought in to the community along with health

benefits to a client who would have lost £116 per week and been £308 in debt if we had not intervened.

Example 2- Client had to finish work due to a tumour on his spine. He lives with his wife in rented

accommodation. We assisted him to claim Attendance Allowance (AA). We advised that his wife who

suffers with Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Tinnitus and depression could claim Personal Independence Payment

(PIP) and assisted her with the application. Client was awarded AA high rate of £82.30 per week and his

wife claimed Carers Allowance of £62.10 per week for looking after him. Client also required help with an

online Blue Badge application.

Client’s wife was refused PIP and we assisted with her Mandatory Reconsideration (MR), however the

decision was unchanged so we assisted with the appeal.

Client’s wife won her PIP appeal and was awarded PIP Standard Rate Daily Living £55.10 per week

backdated for 59 weeks. Benefit check carried out and identified Pension Credit £119.85 per week,

council tax reduction £25.68 per week.

Angela Brownsword - Advice Services Manager

Advice Services Manager

This year Cheadle Citizens Advice…

▲ Gave advice to 983 individual clients with 1,699 enquiries

▲ In the 12 month period we had 2,705 contacts with clients

▲ Helped local people with 7,574 issues



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Case Study One Client attended with his Wife after a nervous breakdown. The client previously ran a successful

business and employed numerous people over a 25 Year Period. Unfortunately, the Client’s

business failed and he was subject to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). The total level

of indebtedness was ~£260,000 and 10 local jobs were lost. The client had no income and he

was at serious risk of defaulting on the IVA and before possession proceedings were issued by

his Mortgage Lender, the client received full benefits advice to maximise income. Both the client

and his partner were disabled. Applications for numerous different benefit were made and this

increased his income from £73.10/Week to £453.46/Week. Client also received advice relating to

reducing utility expenditure which saved £350 per year through switching supplier and a

successful application to a Social Tariff, known as the Big Difference Scheme (BDS), through

Severn Trent Water (STW). We also identified that the ‘Mortgage’ was actually a Consumer

Credit Act 1974 regulated Secured Loan. The Client was advised to apply for a Time Order.

However, the Creditor was willing to negotiate once this intention was indicated. The proposed

£1000 per month repayment arrangement was switched to £350 per month by extending the term

of the agreement due to the circumstances of the case. This was now affordable and they were

able to remain in the matrimonial home.

Case Study Two

Client was referred into us by Social Services. She had suffered with opioid dependence issues

for over 20 years but had recently engaged with residential rehabilitation services and was in full

recovery. However, the client had accumulated Priority and Non Priority debts amounting to

£6000, including rent arrears of £1200, there was no possession order in place but Court action

was threatened. Council Tax Arrears, with Enforcement Agents visiting with increasing regularity

and this situation was causing her significant distress and becoming a barrier to recovery. The

client received full benefits advice to maximise income and made a successful application for PIP

which also increased the amount of income related ESA payable through a Severe Disability

Premium. This action increased income from £218.28/Week to £357.03/Week. Client also

received advice relating to reducing utility expenditure which saved £400 per year through

switching supplier and a successful application to BDS. We discussed all options available to

address her debts. There was no prospect of repayment and she met all qualifying criteria for a

Debt Relief Order and decided to apply for one. The application was successful and all of the

outstanding debts are no longer enforceable/payable. The client is now receiving all of the

benefits that she is entitled to and is benefiting from reduced essential expenditure. She no

longer has any outstanding debts and is she not at risk of eviction by her Social Landlord.

Lindon Parr - Debt Caseworker

Debt Advice Case Studies




▲ Dealt with 3,706 debt issues equating to 48.93% of all issues

▲ The most common debt issue dealt with was Council Tax Arrears

▲ In total we dealt with £7,400,458.54 of debt

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“As a newly qualified volunteer I attended as SCAMS course last year. I was impressed with the

presentation and took away the leaflets which were available with a view to speaking to my WI group

about the many scams which are causing us all problems. This was well received and appreciated by all

and created much discussion.

A few weeks later I was approached by a friend who thought she was a victim of an identity scam and

asked my advice. This was dealt with by the police. Another friend then spoke to me having received a

mobile phone bill for over £600 for a month. She has spoken to the mobile phone company who were no

help and after much upset some 4 months later this has been resolved by the ombudsman. This scam

showed that she has been on her phone for over 24 hours to the same number which she knew couldn’t

be true. I feel that through the course and being able to help my friends, my knowledge of SCAMS has

been much improved; a good start to my volunteering.”

Scams Project

Scams Project - Diane’s Story (Volunteer Adviser)

Each year millions of people in the UK fall prey to scammers. Some frontline scam fighters estimate the total cost to consumers of mass-marketed scams could be as much as £5 billion, but with reporting levels as low as 5 per cent for some types of scams, the true financial costs are unknown. However, whilst loss of money has a substantial impact on a person the most important impact of becoming the victim of a scam can be the cost to the health and personal wellbeing of the victims and their families. Cheadle Citizens Advice, in partnership with Your Housing received funding from the Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s ‘People Power’ Fund to raise awareness of scams and how to report them across the Staffordshire Moorlands area via training sessions for frontline services and intergenerational (particularly vulnerable) groups. The project brought together the strengths of both organisations in terms of advice and advocacy (Citizens Advice) and a supportive relationship with older and younger people (Your Housing Group). Cheadle Citizens Advice delivered 3 scams awareness sessions in Leek, Cheadle and Biddulph that were attended by 46 frontline workers from 14 local agencies included SMDC (staff and councillors), Police Neighbourhood Watch, Citizens Advice, Your Housing and Support Staffordshire. The sessions highlighted the emotional and financial impacts of being a scam victim and gave detailed information on how to identify and report scams which frontline workers could cascade to clients and other organisations. We were most fortunate that Marilyn Baldwin (OBE) of the charity Think Jessica came to speak at the Leek session and we used some of the grant to purchase booklets published by the charity which have been distributed widely across the Moorlands. Feedback received from frontline workers since these sessions shows they had increased confidence in their ability to identify and report scams and also to provide information to clients and other individuals/organisations. Dawn Keates - Scams Awareness Presenter

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Research and campaigning is one of the aims of Citizen's Advice. It is about trying to help individuals and communities by identifying problems and issues that impact on them, seeking to raise awareness of these issues and where possible, trying to change them.

Research and Campaigning

Client had a child tax credit overpayment. A repayment plan had been arranged which the client

was managing to pay. Received letter from HMRC "DWP campaign" to say as part of regular

review income/expenditure needed to be provided within 7 days of date of letter or the repayment

arrangement would be cancelled. Letter was sent by second class post and received just before a

weekend leaving Client just one day to contact HMRC. We helped to lobby HMRC to give longer

more realistic deadlines or additional warning letters.

Client has purchased 3 products from a company through home selling. Salesman made aware of

Client's wife who has difficulties regarding bathing. The Client was sold 3 items that did not fulfil

the client's wife's needs. Salesman was present in home and aware of her limitations. Client’s were

mis-sold as items were not fit for intended use. We informed our central Citizens Advice office that

this retailer registers with the Retail Ombudsman which meant vulnerable customers had access to

independent and considered negotiation if a problem arose.



Money Saving Expert Project

Financial capability underpins the way we deal with the changes of circumstances people

encounter throughout their lifetimes. Having the right skills, knowledge, habits and behaviours

helps people to be in control of their finances and manage their money effectively thus enabling

them to plan for the ‘here and now’ and ‘the future’ so as to avoid or mitigate crises and deal with

the effect changes have. Being financially capable therefore reduces stress and worry and has a

positive impact on both physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Citizens Advice research has shown that 1 in 2 of face-to-face clients have low confidence about

taking action on their money matters (Financial Capability and numeracy baseline survey 2016).

Many of our clients are on fixed or low incomes and in receipt of State Benefits. Changes to the

way these benefits are claimed and received (under Universal Credit claimants will only receive

one monthly payment covering all entitlements) mean that it is essential that clients/claimants

have the knowledge and skills to be financially capable and manage any changes effectively.

We applied for and were able to secure a grant from the Money Saving Expert Charity Fund for a 1 year project (started in September 2015) to help improve financial capability. A Financial Capability Officer was appointed who recruited and trained a team of volunteer Money Skills Advisers to provide ‘one to one’ financial capability support to individuals to help them to improve their financial literacy, increase their income, reduce their expenditure and address any problems, such as out of control debt. Training/awareness raising sessions will be held, a library of information is to be compiled and an information booklet will be produced. Dawn Keates—Financial Capability Assessor

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In 2013 Cheadle Citizens Advice was successful in securing Advice Services Transition funding from the Big Lottery to run a two year project which aimed to improve partnership working between multiple agencies across Staffordshire Moorlands. To deliver the project the Staffordshire Moorlands Advice Partnership (SMAP) was established which included the following partner organisations; Cheadle Citizens Advice, Leek Citizens Advice, Age UK (North Staffordshire), Your Housing and Support Staffordshire. The project funding came to an end in September 2015.

Key achievements from the project: -

The Project enabled SMAP to deliver 25 training sessions open to all Partnership staff (paid &

volunteer) with 2 sessions being open to advice agencies outside of the Partnership.

Training covered SWL advice related subjects such as Victims of Crime, housing, debt, welfare

benefits (including an all-day course on Universal credit) and social policy i.e. influencing local policy

and practice affecting client’s lives.

277 advice staff/volunteers from 15 organisations received training. 100% feedback was

obtained from attendees with 99% reporting that the training would be useful for their future work.

SMAP became accredited as a Skills for Justice (SFJ) approved Assessment Centre, enabling

us to deliver nationally recognised QCF qualifications in Provision of Legal Advice.

2 members of staff completed Level 4 Certificates in Assessing Competence in the Work Place and

1 member of staff completed the Level 4 Certificate in Leading the Internal Quality Assurance of

Assessment Process and Practice.

6 volunteers were enrolled on SFJ courses at the SMAP Assessment Centre.

Early on, we made a full analysis of the availability and methods of service delivery across the whole

Partnership and as a consequence were able to identify gaps in opening hours, lack of availability

of digital advice and the need to recruit additional advice workers.

We also identified a gap in providing digital advice so began to offer advice by email enabling 109

separate pieces of advice to be given to local residents.

Relations with the local authority have improved. The Project Co-ordinator was invited to several

workshops to provide input on matters affecting local residents.

The Partnership undertook 3 joint social policy campaigns and a further scams awareness-raising

campaign which led to a group of the Partnership obtaining funding from the local Police Crime

Commissioner to deliver training across the District on Scams Awareness.

I would like to thank all our Partners for their commitment and work towards the project. The funding we received helped us achieve some great outcomes for the local community in terms of coordinating advice services and ensuring the advice workforce is adequately trained to deliver expert advice. I would also like to express my thanks to Thérèse Davall, Project Coordinator, and her team for their hard

work in delivering the project on behalf of Cheadle Citizens Advice.

Shelagh Bacchus (on behalf of Therese Davall)

Advice Services Transition Fund



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With the money received from the Big Lottery Fund, we were able to fund a caseworker to help

with benefits, something that we have not had since the Primary Care Trust project ended. This

meant that we could help more clients fill in Personal Independence Payment, Attendance

Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance forms. We were also able to help with

General Benefits Entitlement.

One client attended for help with benefits after his partner left her. He was in a very well paid job

and client had no idea on what benefits she could claim for herself and her two children, one who

had autism. Client was visibly distressed when she attended as she was unsure how she would

cope with her finances. Client had been advised by the gateway assessor to claim Single

Occupier Discount and she was given a Council Tax Reduction (CTR) form. We completed this

and as a result Client received CTF each week of £7.39.

Client did have a small part time job as a nursery nurse working 16 hours and planned to carry

this on. We carried out a benefits check and this showed Client would receive an entitlement to

£252.91 of Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits each week. We also helped Client with a

solicitor appointment to discuss her situation surrounding her divorce. We also provided Client

with some factsheets on whether or not she was getting the right amount of child maintenance.

Client left us feeling much more empowered due to the advice she had received and without that

advice, she may not have known how to cope.

Matthew Frost

ASTF Benefits Caseworker

Benefits Advice Work


▲ Dealt with 2,373 benefit issues equating to 31.33% of all issues

▲ The main benefit dealt with was Employment Support Allowance

▲ Assisted local residents to claim benefits worth £889,617.68 in annualised

payments and almost £22,302.07 in backdated payments/lump sums



Congratulations to Sarah Longley, Kim Taylor, Gerald Edwards, Diane Sharman and

Linda Kocierz for completing their Generalist Adviser certificates. Congratulations also

goes to Michelle Penaluna for passing her Gateway Assessor certificate.

Our volunteers work extremely hard to achieve their certificates, so we thank them for

their efforts and recognise the time and dedication they commit.

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We received funding from Citizens Advice to provide energy focused appointments to clients in

addition to offering the full range of Citizens Advice support services such as claiming benefits

and dealing with debt.

Examples of this work include:-

Client was assisted with his claim for Attendance Allowance and a Blue Badge and his wife

was assisted with her Personal Independence appeal. Following these successful claims we

carried out a benefit check and advised the husband to claim Carer’s Allowance to look after

his wife which resulted in them being awarded Guarantee Pension Credit and full Council

Tax Reduction amounting to annualised gains and backdated benefits of £3625.

Client lives alone and had significant physical disabilities and required help finding cheaper

energy tariffs. Price comparison search found potential saving of £130 per year and we

assisted him to complete the switch. Identified and applied for the Big Difference Scheme

with Severn Trent Water saving him £297 this year.

An electricity debt of £1030 was written off after we intervened and complained to Npower

who had mistakenly calculated client’s bill since 2012 inputting economy 7 day and night

units incorrectly. Following the death of her husband our Client sought advice. A benefit

check identified £2000 Bereavement Payment, Bereavement Allowance, Income Related

ESA, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction. This amounted to an annualised income

of £6219 and as she was on prepayment meters we gave energy saving advice.

Client attended out of hours as his ESA had stopped. He suffered depression and lives

alone. He has rent arrears and water debts and could not afford all his electric energy bills

and was on his emergency credit. We took action to identify reason for benefit delay and

offered further advice regarding Discretionary Housing Payment, help with water arrears,

gave a food bank voucher and offered benefit check.

Energy Best Deal Extra



Client Feedback

My sister and I wish to express our appreciation for the

wonderful help and kindness given to our cousin on the visits

over the last twelve months. Our cousin was in a very difficult

situation particularly with her benefits and council tax and

without the face to face advice we would not have known

where to start to sort out her problems. Once again a very big

thank you for all Citizens Advice staff.

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Financially the year ended March 2016 was another challenging year for Cheadle Citizen Advice.

However, we have performed to the budget we set ourselves, we actually delivered a surplus of

approximately £1500. We have achieved this by a tight control of our expenditure against

reducing income. Thanks for this goes to our Staff and Volunteers who continue delivering a

quality service on a shoestring budget. Needless to say 2016/2017 will be even more

challenging, with an even tighter budget and less funding opportunities to apply for. Our

Trustees, Chief Officer and Staff are working hard to find new funding streams and ways of

working to secure the future of Cheadle Citizen Advice.

We have this year adopted the new accounting standard FRS102, 12 months ahead of schedule.

This new standard requires us to present our accounting information in a different way but also

charges us with demonstrating that we have the means to continue our operations for at least 12

months instead of the 3 months previously. This we have done.

Dave Sargeant - Treasurer

Trustee Board

Last word from the Treasurer

Members of the Trustee Board 2015/2016

Timothy Halliday (Chair) Ron Locker

Ian Plant Peter Jackson

Mark Valentine Neil Plant

Gillian Burton Peter Siddley

Belinda-Jayne Gordon Dave Sargeant

Amanda McDonald Colin Rothwell

Deborah Grocott Margaret Locker

We aim to:-

▲ Provide the advice that people need for the problems they face and

▲ Improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives

Follow us online


@cheadlecab

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/cheadlecab.htm

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How to contact us

Cheadle Citizens Advice Rear of Lulworth House, 51 High Street, Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent, ST10 1AR

Drop in (no appointment necessary) Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays 10.00 am to 1.00 pm

Staffordshire Adviceline 03444 111 444

24 hour internet advice https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/



We are extremely grateful to all of the following organisations and individuals whose

generosity enables us to help those most in need in our community.

Cheadle Citizens Advice received funding and other support in 2015/16 from:

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council ▲ Cheadle Town Council ▲ Staffordshire

County Council ▲ Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Staffordshire ▲ the

Money Advice Service ▲ Big Lottery Fund ▲ Energy Best Deal Extra ▲ Money Saving

Expert Charity ▲ Moorlands Together

We have also received kind donations from a number of private individuals.

Thank you to our Funders

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