Final Report 18th July 2012

The State and Future of Advice in Bristol

A report from the Advice Network on behalf of agencies who provide legal advice and information on issues such as welfare benefits, debt, housing, employment, immigration, asylum and community care, which is free, confidential, impartial and of high quality in Bristol.

Index

Executive Summary

Introduction to Report

Section 1: Background

  1. Local environment and trends
  2. Legislative change
  3. Changes to the funding landscape

Section 2: Current trends

  1. National context
  2. Local context
  3. Delivery of advice by agency
  4. How and where advice is delivered in Bristol
  5. Liaison with other advice providers
  6. Key trends
  7. Linking in with Bristol City Council strategies
  8. The future
  9. Appendices:

Appendix 1 NAWRA report

Appendix 2 Funding splits analysis by agency (2011/12)

Executive Summary

This report has been compiled by the Advice Network on behalf of the six advice agencies; Avon and Bristol Law Centre, Bristol Citizens Advice Bureau, Bristol Debt Advice Centre, North Bristol Advice Centre, South Bristol Advice Services, St Pauls Advice Centre who currently are commissioned by Bristol City Council and NHS Bristol under the ring-fenced programme for advice worth £752,678 annually. The purpose of the report is firstly to analyse the key changes that have occurred and were not envisaged at the start of the commissioning process and then to considerwhat the key issues are facing agencies and their clients and how for the remainder of the commissioning period the 6 agencies will be able to respond to the needs of those individuals and communities in Bristol. Advice is not solely delivered by these agencies and the report also identifies other advice agencies that the main providers work with, these agencies are also facing and responding to the same advice challenges.

However it should also be understood that despite the challenges identified below, the decision to invest strategically in advice by Bristol City Council and NHS Bristol whether through supporting the commissioned programme, the grants programme and in – house provision is enormously beneficial to individuals and communities.

In 2011/12, the 6 agencies, plus CPAG and Shire (funded through the grants fund) and WRAMAS (BCC in-house provider) assisted 40,605 people in Bristol to secure information and advice

In the same period, these same agencies raised £12,916,732 on behalf of their clients, money that is mostly spent in the local economy, this from a total investment by BCC and NHS Bristol to the same 9 agencies of £1.4m

The 6 agencies in the commissioning framework in 2011/12 levered funds from other funders and commissioners of more than £1.3m

In 2012/13 agencies have continued to secure and lever in funding, most recently a consortium of 7 agencies (including 5 within the commissioning programme) secured a £270,000 grant from Comic Relief to support older people, this is the largest grant ever awarded by the funder.

Encouragingly it appears that the Face 2 Face funding for debt advice, provided by the Money Advice Service and worth in the region of £700,000 to Bristol agencies, will now continue on beyond 2013/14, due to impressive performance under the new contract which came into force in April 2012.

Key Issues

Over the last year (2011/12) there has been a substantive increase in the demand for advice services, up by 100% in some instances:

  • Welfare benefits has increased significantly due to the plethora of national reforms and in particular ongoing problems with employment and support allowance assessments
  • Employment due largely to the economic downturn where increasingly people are being made redundant, being placed on shorter working hours, or facing changes to contracts of employment.
  • Debt where priority debts such as utilities, rent, and council tax arrears have increased significantly due to a combination of falling household incomes and rising prices.

None of these issues are expected to decrease for the remainder of the commissioning period (2014), as the economic climate is not anticipated to improve dramatically and the Government’s austerity measures are expected to remain largely in place. In addition to this, as new legislation is enacted it is predicted that there will be an upsurge in demand for housing, welfare benefits and immigration advice.

Despite receiving no substantive cuts to current funding advice agencies are now finding it impossible to meet demand in welfare benefits, housing, employment and immigration and are at capacity for debt, this is despite introducing a range of measures designed to enable those able to help themselves to do so and to triage clients to ensure that those with the most urgent and pressing needs are prioritised.

The Legal Aid and Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act will have serious consequences on the ability of advice agencies to retain current provision. Five of the agencies in the commission receive funding from this source and it is expected as a minimum £540,000 will be lost to advice services annually in Bristol commencing in April 2013. This may well increase as it is not certain whether existing providers will retain areas remaining in scope of Legal Aid as they are put out for tender.

Perversely due to the decision by Bristol City Council and NHS Bristol to maintain its funding to the advice sector, agencies were unable to qualify for the Governments transition funding[1], and only ABLC was able to apply to the Advice Fund. The Government has announced a further £40m investment over the next 2 years to the Advice Fund, where because of Legal Aid reductions agencies will certainly be able to apply, though it is not yet certain what this fund will be for.As the issues faced by agencies locally are also faced by agencies across the country the fund will certainly be oversubscribed, given that the annual national loss to VCS advice agencies from the reduction in Legal Aid is estimated to be £69 m.

In respect of actual demand in Bristol, as an example; overwhelmingly agencies providing welfare benefits are inundated with enquiries and appeals regarding Employment Support Allowance. Whilst the national rate of appeals overturned is 38%[2], appeals overturned supported by advice agencies in Bristol are between 85-95%. This situation is ongoing as clients are re-assessed, and further pressure will be exercised when Disability Living Allowance is replaced by Personal Independence Payments (April 2013), though this will be more problematic as unlike ESA where claimants migrate from one benefit to another, existing DLA claimants will have to re-apply for PIP and it is expected that many will fall by the wayside.

This level of success with current ESA appeals points to clear and systemic system failures by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and their contractors. However what is more worrying is that the success rate falls significantly for those not receiving advice and support, and therefore it is likely that in Bristol there are many people already who have lost their entitlement erroneously and this is likely to increase due to the loss of Legal Aid and attendant disbursements in April 2013 for these cases.

The decreases in funding coupled with rises in demand currently position advice agencies in an extremely challenging position. Agencies are pressed by different funders requirements to provide for fast track and lighter touch services serving more people and services which seek to prevent future problems against expectations to prioritise those who are most vulnerable and where the absence of immediate advice will have catastrophic and potentially life damaging consequences. The lack of an agreed advice-wide and indeed city- wide definition of vulnerability and extreme vulnerability will need to be remedied if the focus of funding is to be directed to these groups.

The squeeze on service provision is expected to increase significantly when many of the major changes are scheduled:

  • April 2013 - withdrawal of Legal Aid for debt, welfare benefits, immigration[3] and employment and the issuing of new contracts for Housing, Court Desk and Discrimination, which may not be awarded to current providers and will certainly be reduced against current value.
  • April 2013 – replacement of social fund and council tax benefit, benefit caps and reductions in housing benefit for under-occupation ( ‘the bedroom tax’)
  • June 2013 – DLA starts to be replaced by personal independence payment for working age people
  • Summer 2013 – the introduction of fees for people taking cases to the Employment Tribunal ( up to £1,200)

Whilst geographical coverage by agencies remains adequate, there are still pockets of Bristol where it is difficult to secure services; this is particularly true of East Bristol and parts of South Bristol, whilst agencies are endeavouring to provide coverage by establishing new services, these along with other existing provision is bound to retract in the face of funding cuts. Agencies are looking at different ways that services can be provided by greater use of telephone and internet advice, but recognising these are least likely to suit the most vulnerable there will be a need to remap face to face service provision in 2013. It should also be noted that clients rarely distinguish the urban fringe borders between Bristol and S Glos and there is considerable traffic (both ways) of clients.

Agencies also recognising the needs of various communities of interest have also endeavoured to model services to meet differing requirements. Clients needing additional support services such as home visits, medical reports, translation, literacy and numeracy support are currently catered for, but all these support needs come at an additional cost, many of these are met through Legal Aid disbursements or additional trust funding, however the pressure to utilise the funding that remains to deliver a basic core service cannot be underestimated.

Agencies aware of the changes ahead have been looking in detail at other opportunities that they may be able to exploit, whether these are establishing separate trading arms and developing paid for services or positioning to engage with neighbourhood, city –wide , regional or national opportunities. These are necessarily different as the scope of opportunity and expertise varies between organisations and they are governed by different rules and membership requirements. The high level of co-operation between existing agencies is well regarded both within and outside of Bristol[4]. The focus is to stretch these arrangements to encompass non – traditional partners and for some to build on the work already achieved outside the boundaries of Bristol to gain leverage that enables agencies as relevant to continue to provide a service in Bristol.

Agencies are also trying to address internal efficiencies, however an independent report in 2006 then identified that there were few savings to be made, other than through staffing cuts. Nevertheless opportunities of new technologies and re-organising work are being considered both internally and between agencies.

In respect of the current commissioned provision, there is potentially a need to renegotiate some of the existing Key Performance Indicators, which cover for example the areas of law advice is provided in, the level and complexity, the key people agencies are expected to service and in which geographical areas. These were derived from the Bristol Community Advice Service Needs Analysis undertaken in 2009 and have been subject to revisions due to changes in need since then.

Key Recommendations

  • Determine cohorts and definition of the most vulnerable and to agree how these will be prioritised from April 2013
  • To consider, given the decrease in funding from April 2013, how advice will be delivered
  • To undertake a mapping exercise of current geographical uptake and to ensure this is taken into account when re-mapping services from April 2013
  • To consider what areas of law and at what level and complexity should be delivered and by whom and to refine referral arrangements to cater for changes
  • To redefine the current definition of ‘money raised’ to incorporate the maintenance of clients incomes to ensure agencies are able to reflect the work they are undertaking
  • To develop a communication plan to ensure all stakeholders including clients are aware of why changes are happening

The State and Future of Advice in Bristol

Introduction

Bristol City Counciland NHS Bristol currently provide funding of £ 752,678[5] (per annum) to support in part the legal advice needs of communities in Bristol. The funds were ring-fenced by the funders, with a commissioning process being undertaken in 2010/11 and the introduction of a three year commissioned programme from 2011 – 2014. The commissioning of services was based on thorough consultation process undertaken in 2009/10. Six agencies were identified to deliver these services: Avon and Bristol Law Centre, Bristol Citizens Advice Bureau, Bristol Debt Advice Centre, North Bristol Advice Centre, St Pauls Advice Centre and South Bristol Advice Services.

Since this was undertaken there have been significant changes in the external funding environment and the legislative environment directly impacting on advice services, this in turn is set against an economic background of recession and low growth with the corresponding challenges of higher unemployment and increasing poverty.

In order to address the key issues emerging from these changes, the Advice Network has compiled this report, in order to ensure that advice agencies continue to be best placed to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable citizens of Bristol. The report has now been endorsed by the Joint Planning Board and will form the framework of future action.

Section 1: Background

  1. Localenvironment and trends

Whilst the results of the 2011 census are yet to be published (and will be incorporated into further revisions of this document), there are a number of trends that are important to consider in respect of how advice is provided across Bristol. As will be seen in further sections, agencies are anxious to address issues highlighted by these statistics and to model services to reflect the most pressing needs.

The statistics below are extracted from the 2012 draft Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) unless otherwise stated.

1.1 Population and Diversity

Bristol is set to continue with a high growth rate of population; - the population has already grown by 13.2% since 2001 and this is anticipated to increase by a further 4.2% to 17.4% by 2017. In context this compares to an England average of 6.7%, with Bristol experiencing the 3rd highest percentage change of the Core Cities[6]

Growth is particularly high for those under 40 (amongst older people it is lower than the England average) with Bristol having more children resident than people over 65. High growth areas are concentrated in the inner city with Lawrence Hill and Cabot experiencing growth of 15% since 2006 and 50% since 2001.

In particular the BME population has grown significantly; the estimated population is 13.5% (an increase of 85% since 2001), currently it is estimated that 26% of school pupils are from BME backgrounds and 27% of babies born are to mothers from outside of the UK. The increases in BME populations are highly concentrated in Ashley and Lawrence Hill, but diversity is also increasing significantly in East Bristol.

High population densities, growth in the younger age groups and diverse community profiles are not in themselves a determinant of high levels of deprivation.A city where growth is concentrated amongst younger age groups can be a positive advantage. It is only when this information is contextualised against other measures of deprivation that key patterns emerge

1.2Deprivation

Concentrations of very high deprivation are experienced by the outer wards of South and North Bristol and the inner city wards, however they are very differently characterised. South Bristol wards have low population growth, are predominately white and experience persistent rates of worklessness, whereas inner city wards have rapidly growing populations which are increasingly diverse, but also experience persistent rates of worklessness

27% (relative measure) of Bristol children live in poverty against a national average of 21%, Bristol has more families in poverty with children under 5 than other Core Cities. 8% of households are lone parent households, with 75.5% of children from those households living in poverty against an England average of 68.2%. The greatest numbers are in Lawrence Hill (1,750) and Filwood (1,270)

15.7% of the City’s population suffer from income deprivation[7], the highest in Filwood (51%) against the lowest in Clifton (1%). The most income deprived areas are clustered in South Bristol (11), Inner city (8), East Bristol (2) and North Bristol (5). However in total deprivation has increased most in East Bristol, with the Greater Fishponds area worsening the most rapidly against the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) measures.

22% of older people in the City live in income deprived households, with highest concentrations in Lawrence Hill and Filwood and also in outer South Bristol wards and North Bristol outer wards from Avonmouth to Hillfields.

Mean household incomes are lowest in Bishopsworth, Filwood, Hartcliffe, Whitchurch, Lawrence Hill, Easton, Lockleaze, Southmead, and Kingsweston.

1.3 Employment

(This information is extracted from the March 2012 economic bulletin released by BCC)

The employment rate did not change in the 4 quarters to June 2011 and is 74.3%, the highest of the Core Cities

The JSA claimant rate is 4.1% (Jan 2012) 0.1% above the English average and the lowest of the Core Cities, however the number of long – term (over one year) JSA claimants has increased by 72% compared to an England –wide average of 44%. The number of young people claiming has tripled from 340 in Jan 11 to 1025 in Jan 12.

The wards with the highest claimant rates are Lawrence Hill (9.5%), Ashley (8.1%), Easton (7.2%) and Filwood (6.8%), the worst effected wards for increases in claimants were Lawrence Hill, Ashley and Easton

The unemployment rate at December 2010 was 6.5%, but this is expected to have risen since that period.

In November 2011 40,800 people were claiming Council Tax Benefit and Working Tax Credit, though this may now begin to fall as entitlement is being cut from April 2012.