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[our aims] [foreward by the chair] [the national picture] [an overview of thurrock citizens advice bureau]
[staff & volunteers 2007/2008] [volunteering and the citizens advice] [the schedule]
[debt advice] [welfare benefits and tax credits advice] [advice on housing issues] [advice on employment issues]
Annual Report 2007/2008:
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Advice
An Overview of Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Problems
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) support four key groups: people of working age, pensioners, disabled people and carers, and people with children. For each of those groups, a variety of benefits are available.
650,000 clients presented Citizens Advice Bureaux with more than 1.6m benefits and tax credit issues in 2006/07. Over half of all benefits advice related to determining clients' eligibility and entitlement. Almost one in ten benefits issues concerned form-filling.
The five largest categories of benefit advice provided by bureaux were Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Disability Living Allowance (Care Component) and Income Support.32 These benefits are claimed by a significant number of people; the DWP report that in 2007 there were 4m recipients of Housing Benefit, 5.1m recipients of Council Tax Benefit, 2.6m claimed Incapacity Benefits and 2.2m claimed Income Support.
Current level of take-up for welfare benefits and tax credits, combined with complexity of system and diversity of potential claimant population, suggest strong continuing demand for effective, accurate and authoritative non-governmental welfare rights advice service.33
Working and Child tax credits are a key area in which Citizens Advice Bureaux provide advice. HM Revenue and Customs report that 6 million families were tax credit recipients or were receiving the equivalent child support through benefits, a figure that has remained broadly consistent since 2004.34 However, the numbers of Working and Child Tax Credits issues presented to bureaux have risen significantly between 2005 and 2007. 4.3% of issues concerned poor administration and 3.4% of issues were complaints. 22,000 instances of advice concerned debt related to overpayment of working and child tax credits.32
Taking all five income-related benefits together, there was between £4.8 million and £8 million left unclaimed in 2004/2005, compared with £31.7m that was claimed.35 Since 1997/98, Housing Benefit take-up fell by 7% and Council Tax benefit take-up fell by at least 8%, Jobseekers Allowance fell by 12%.
How do individuals benefit from Welfare Benefits advice?
For some eligible non-recipients of welfare benefits, advice may be particularly important in enabling them to make claims. Mental health service users are more likely to find the complexity of the tax and benefits system overwhelming. 36
Take-up of entitlements by eligible non-recipients of benefits can make a considerable contribution to improving the financial situation of a household; deliver an increase in living standards and a reduction in deprivation and poverty experienced.36
There is a close relationship between debt and benefit advice issues. Research has found that 15% of debt clients reported that advice led to an increased income through benefits.37
Financial gains have been linked with health benefits. An increase in income was associated with a decrease in bodily pain at six months and improvements in psycho-social health at twelve months.37
How do communities benefit from Welfare Benefits advice?
Welfare benefits and tax credits do not only represent gains for the individual, but can also be used as a part of local economic development.38 A proportion of the higher incomes enjoyed by previously non-claiming recipients are spent on the purchase of goods and services,37 and research in Glasgow found that income gained for the city's poorer residents was more likely to be spent locally39.
Research conducted at Brighton and Hove Citizens Advice Bureau found that welfare benefits advice had resulted in increase in income of £676,000 to clients. Applying the methods of the New Economics Foundation's local multiplier toolkit (LM3), the study concluded that there was a total value to the local economy of £1,149,000.40
Support with form filling has also been shown to reduce the administrative burden on organisations such as Jobcentre Plus, by ensuring the information is completed correctly before submission.
Contribution of Benefits advice to Government and social policy
Citizens Advice Bureaux provide 650,000 clients with benefits and tax credits advice. This represents a significant contribution towards the Department for Work and Pensions' strategic objective to "pay our customers the right benefits at the right time."41
Bureaux also contribute to the objective of maximising employment opportunity for all. One element of this target is to increase the take up of formal childcare by low income working families. Bureaux advise on all aspects of Working Tax Credits, including the availability of the childcare element, and therefore contribute to this target. In 2006/07, bureaux dealt with 163,000 working and child tax credit issues.
What has Thurrock CAB delivered to its Welfare Benefits clients?
In 2007/08, Thurrock CAB advised 1,363 clients on Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits. Clients presented 4,116 benefits and tax credits issues in the year. The most common areas we advised on were council tax and housing benefits. Nearly two-thirds of issues concerned eligibility and entitlement.
Three months after receiving advice, we surveyed 95 clients that had presented a benefits problem (more than 5% of benefit clients). Half of the clients had gained financially since visiting the bureau; an average annual gain of £2,700 in benefits per person. 98% of those clients who had gained said that the bureau was 'crucial' or 'fairly important' to their outcome.
Clients were also asked if they felt they had benefit in other ways, aside from financial gains. More than 95% of the 95 clients that were surveyed felt the bureau had made 'a lot of difference' or 'some difference' to their knowledge and ability to deal with problems in the future, and to their peace of mind. 66% of the clients also stated the advice had made 'a lot of difference' or 'some difference' to their health and relationships.
Thurrock CAB is actively involved in local social policy. Prompted by a number of issues reported by clients, in 2006 we became concerned about the clients' ability to access Crisis Loans by telephone - clients are not allowed to make an application using the Jobcentre's telephone. Clients may then use their mobile telephone, on which the 0800 number incurs a cost. We have contact the Jobcentre who have agreed to review the need for additional resources to enable communication from within the Jobcentre.
32 Analysis of Advice Issues and Client Profile 2006/07, Citizens Advice, 2007, Available at (Internal Only): http://www.cablink.org.uk/ANONIDZ3ADDD23AC018D0FC/analysis_of_advice_issues_2006-07.pdf
33 The benefits of welfare rights advice: a review of the literature, National Association of Welfare Rights Advisors, 2006. Available at: http://www.nawra.org/nawra/docs_pdf/Benefitsofwelfarerightsadvicelitreview.pdf
34 Over Indebtedness, Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, 2006. Available at: http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/consumer-finance/over-indebtedness/index.html
35 Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2004/2005, Department of Work and Pensions, 2006. Available at: http://www.workandpensions.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/2006/oct/ifd261006benefits.pdf
36 The benefits of welfare rights advice: a review of the literature, National Association of Welfare Rights Advisors, 2006. Available at: http://www.nawra.org/nawra/docs_pdf/Benefitsofwelfarerightsadvicelitreview.pdf
37 A Helping Hand: the Impact of Debt Advice on People's Lives. Legal Services Research Centre, 2007. Available at: http://www.lsrc.org.uk/publications/Impact.pdf
38 The Money Trail: Measuring your impact on the local economy using LM3, New Economics Foundation, 2002. Available at: http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/The%20Money%20Trail.pdf
39 The Effect of Citizens Advice Bureaux on the Glasgow economy, Fraser of Allander Institute, 2003. Available at (internal only): http://www.cablink.org.uk/ANONIDZF9F5CF7181D18038/fraser_of_allander_report-2.doc
40 Eleven plus to one, University of Brighton, 2003. Available at: http://www.brightonhovecab.org.uk/pdfs/11to1.pdf
41 National indicators 180 and 181. See: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/543055
Thurrock CAB Annual Report 2007/2008
 Download the full annual report 2007/2008 (PDF 274kB)
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