Future Plans
In 2008 we introduced a new way of working called 'gateway assessment' for face-to-face enquiries. This led to a significant increase in the numbers of clients that we deal with.
We want to continue to increase access to our service. Our waiting room was refurbished in 2008 with financial help from the Big Lottery, and soon we will provide personal callers with access to Adviceguide, the Citizens Advice public website. This website is a superb resource and will enable people to get help even when the bureau is not open for advice.
We also want to increase access for people for whom it is not easy to come into the city because of work, or caring responsibilities, or disability. In October 2010 the Gateway assessment model will be extended to our telephone service and we are hoping for similar improvements in terms of access to high-quality advice as has already been achieved for personal callers.
Benefits
Lone parents: since 26th October 09, a lone parent whose youngest child is over 10 has no longer been able to claim Income Support solely on the grounds of being a lone parent, and should be actively seeking work. S/he can then claim Job Seekers Allowance if necessary, instead of Income Support. The age will go down to 7 by 25th October 2010.
Pensioners: The age a woman can draw her pension is changing gradually between 2010 and 2020, increasing from 60 to 65. This change will also affect Pension Credit - the age at which a person (man or woman) can claim Pension credit is going up in line with the pension age for women. Other benefits, such as Winter Fuel Payments, are also affected in a similar way.
Sick and disabled people: ESA (Employment and Support Allowance), replacing Incapacity Benefit and Income support for people unfit for work, was introduced in October 08.
Future: The government is signalling its intention to change the benefit system radically in the near future.
We aim to help clients cope with the impact of all these changes on their lives.
Benefit Statistics
2008/9 saw an increase in enquiries about jobseekers allowance of 60% in comparison to the previous year, and 2009/10 saw a further increase of 40% confirming the ongoing impact of the downturn. In 2009/10 there was also a 29% increase in enquiries about housing benefit and a 17% increase in enquiries about council tax benefit compared with 2008/9.
Debt
Since the recession began we are dealing with many more people with varying types and levels of debt. We are usually able to suggest several strategies for dealing with situations. The obvious way of dealing with a problem is not always the only or best one.
Recently there has been a major change in the way debt is dealt with; this is the Debt Relief Order. It is a solution for people with up to £15,000.00 worth of debt, assets of less than £300.00 and spare income of less than £50.00 per calendar month. If you want to find out more go to the Citizens Advice website at
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk
or visit the Insolvency Service website at
http://www.insolvency.gov.uk
Debt Statistics
Debt enquiries rose in 2009/10 in comparison with 2008/09; in 2008/9 we dealt with 3,930 debt issues compared with 3,331 in the previous year.. Enquiries about fuel debts have risen most significantly - rising by 56% in 2009/10 compared with 2008/9 - unsurprising perhaps given the continued increase in fuel prices and the poor winter weather
Employment
Oxford Citizens Advice Bureau is able to advise and assist clients with matters relating to their employment. Our primary focus is centered on worker's individual employment rights, and we are able to provide this advice through our volunteers seeing clients face to face, or assisting them through our telephone enquiry service. This year in particular we are targeting discrimination in all its forms as from 2009 we embarked on a joint project with OEHRC (Oxfordshire Equality and Human Rights Commission) to provide advice and casework to those who have been discriminated against on grounds of sex, race, age, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation. This is an exciting development and in line with the aim of the CAB service to be first port of call for anyone having to deal with different and
unfair treatment.
Through ongoing training and experience our advisors are learning to identify when and where a worker may be the victim of discrimination, on the grounds of their gender, race, religion, disability or sex. This year for example we were able to assist a man who had been on sick leave because he had been the victim of a campaign of bullying and harassment. A grievance was initiated with our assistance which ultimately led to the man's resignation, and a referral was then made to a solicitor. The man was eligible for free legal help and subsequently agreed a 5-figure settlement in exchange for withdrawing his claims for race and gender discrimination, and unfair dismissal.
We continue to deal with complaints where workers are not being paid the National Minimum Wage. We have assisted clients with recovering money that was unlawfully deducted from their salaries; where workers have not received employment contracts, or where fundamental changes are being imposed on those contracts without the consent of the worker, for example a change in shift patterns, or in the number of hours worked.
Unfair dismissal enquiries continue make up a large percentage of the enquiries, and we are able to rely on specialist support, using outside agencies and solicitors for advice and for practical assistance where necessary to augment our advice service.
Through continuing training and maintaining close link with the community we are able to help ensure that employers meet their responsibilities to employees.
Employment Statistics
Discrimination enquiries rose by 39% comparing 2009/10 to 2008/9 - reflecting the increased awareness of discrimination issues as a result of our joint initiative with Oxfordshire Equality and Human Rights Council (OEHRC), funded by the EHRC. Enquires about pay rose 14% in the same period, and whilst redundancy enquiries, which rose dramatically in 2008/9 (by 100%), remained fairly constant in 2009/10, the number of dismissal issues recorded rose by 62%. This statistic is likely to be recession driven.
