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Canal & River Trust to appoint Welfare Officer

PandaNBTA
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Canal & River Trust has decided that it will appoint a Welfare Officer for an initial period of 12 months. This follows a lot of adverse publicity about evictions of vulnerable boat dwellers, many of whom would still be living on their boats if their welfare needs had been adequately addressed.

I will post a link to the job ad when it appears. Anyone who wants to know more of the background to this is welcome to contact me.

Dan_Manville
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I wonder what we could do to ensure they advertise in on here… Have you got CRT’s ear Panda or is it worth bothering John?

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here’s the link to our submission form ...

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/jobs/submit

PandaNBTA
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Hi Dan, yes I am in touch with the chair of the sub-group that has a role in drawing up the job description etc so I’ll recommend advertising here. It looks like the job description won’t be finalised for at least another two weeks so given that summer isn’t a good time to recruit, I’d expect the job to be advertised at the start of September - see

https://careers-canalrivertrust.icims.com/jobs/search?ss=1&searchLocation;=&searchCategory;=&hashed=0&mobile=false&width=636&height=500&bga=true&needsRedirect=false

Thanks Shawn, I’ll forward your link to the person mentioned above.

Panda

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I am informed that this post will be advertised in the next 10 to 14 days including on Rightsnet. It will be for an initial 18 months, but the relevant CRT committee chair hopes it will be extended to a longer or possibly permanent contract after 18 months. For those Rightsnet members who are looking for a new challenge, I look forward to hearing that CRT has appointed someone of the highest calibre.

Dan_Manville
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Fair to say that this will be an interesting job for someone with a generalist background; there’s be some debt work in there as well as welf stuff and some rather interesting legal stuff arising out of the boating side of things. It could go in any number of directions.

Probably fair to say that if the successful applicant can make more than their salary in revenue for CRT (think 30 successful housing beenfit claims), there will be a very sound business case for extending the contract past the initial 18 months. This post has been much needed for quite some time.

If I wasn’t so cushty here in Wolvo there’d be some competition… ( I can hear a sigh of relief from someone… lol)

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Perhaps the post holder could start by tackling organisations that ‘assist’ vulnerable individuals to home themselves by purchasing a narrow boat without any regard to C&RT; (or EA) residential morring or licence requirements thus adding further to waterways becoming linear floating housing estates.

Dan_Manville
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Peter Turville - 11 August 2014 02:18 PM

Perhaps the post holder could start by tackling organisations that ‘assist’ vulnerable individuals to home themselves by purchasing a narrow boat without any regard to C&RT; (or EA) residential morring or licence requirements thus adding further to waterways becoming linear floating housing estates.

Are you talking about a certain marina that will remain nameless?

Maybe we should save this discussion for elsewhere!

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Dan - I am not aware of the specific marina - I think its a wider issue - happened here under an ‘inivative initative to assist homeless people’.

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I can’t help myself… Castle Mill or Agenda 21?

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DManville - 13 August 2014 12:29 PM

I can’t help myself… Castle Mill or Agenda 21?

various locations - Castle Mill is boarded up awaiting development although, if memory serves, planning permission has been granted!

My understanding is that a service provider to a statutory agency has assisted individuals without permenant accom. to apply to a charity for assistance with the purchase of a boat.

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Peter Turville - 13 August 2014 01:02 PM
DManville - 13 August 2014 12:29 PM

I can’t help myself… Castle Mill or Agenda 21?

various locations - Castle Mill is boarded up awaiting development although, if memory serves, planning permission has been granted!

My understanding is that a service provider to a statutory agency has assisted individuals without permenant accom. to apply to a charity for assistance with the purchase of a boat.

Never heard of that before.

Ah well, the licence and moorings are covered by the old HB rules, insurance and BSC covered too given a wiley CRT welfare officer and they don’t need res’ planning permission to live on a boat in a given spot unless the Council takes a dislike to their being there.

Just a shame the boat will deteriorate without lots of money and TLC. A good example of profound short sightedness by someone all the same.


Bring
Out
Another
Thousand

Budgetting loans every year wouldn’t cover my maintenance costs!

 

Dan_Manville
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Back on topic… I note that the job spec’s out now. I’m a bit worried that they’re asking for the stars in the person spec. Half Social Worker half Welf. That and it’s clearly written by someone (or a commitee) that clearly doesn’t know much about what they’re recruiting. I get the feeling 3 years is inspired by the LSC/Lexcel self supervisor spec for instance…

The person spec asks for someone with extensive casework experience yet being a sole actor with a national coverage of (an educated estimate) about 7 or 8 thousand people will -to my mind- require more income maximisation and referral than concentrated casework. There’s going to be a significant role for networking and development that would possibly involve someone with broader experience than a candidate who’s been flying a Welfare Rights caseload for the last three years.

A big part of the job will be developing it effectively; there aren’t many people with national coverage and it’s a pretty unique environment; at least to my mind. Scooching round the coutry getting to know the enforcement teams would be a challenge in itself never mind the user groups.

Asking for a seasoned caseworker might stymie the role even in the short term whereas someone who could skill up quickly; knowing not to take JCP at their word, while developing the broader role to reach all corners of the community via the enforcement & billing teams might not be such a seasoned caseworker.

It’s more of a take up job to my mind.

Interested in people’s thoughts…

I won’t link to it here until I see the job application posted.

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Tony Bowman - 27 August 2014 02:38 PM
Peter Turville - 11 August 2014 02:18 PM

Perhaps the post holder could start by tackling organisations that ‘assist’ vulnerable individuals to home themselves by purchasing a narrow boat without any regard to C&RT;.

On the flip side of that proverbial coin, the post holder may also need to tackle situations where the non-vulnerable and well-informed enter into agreements knowing they’ll run into trouble.

 

 

Historically this has been a big problem; there are a lot of boaters living outside the rules laid down by law and it’s never been particularly enthusiastically enforced by The Powers That Be whatever badge they were wearing. The appointment of a Welfare Officer could well herald increasing efforts to crack down on that; there has been a lot of noise from various corners that it’s in the pipeline.

That isn’t subsidiary to the hardship issues a lot are increasingly faced with. CRT need someone who can effectively argue the toss over sanctions and reticent LAs who are reluctant to award Housing Benefit. A smidgen of debt work would be involved too. However there would be a lot of less welfare ben work involved that would be equally suited to a person with less welf knowledge than they’re asking for.

The main problems outside S17 BWA ‘95 enforcement they will hit will be disruptions to existing Housing Ben claims due to sanctions and income maximisation; that’s entry level work.

Someone with three years’ ken doing DLA and ESA appeals under an LSC contract is as unlikely to have the skill set that will be required on the ground as a new starter to the field.

 

Peter Turville
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Dan
It would also be interesting to know who C&RT; envisage as the ‘target’ client groups.

Clearly there will be some boat owners who are ‘legitimate’ who may need support - for example because of a sudden change in circumstances that mean (amongst other things) they are unable to pay their licence, mooring fees etc. That group could include crusing and contiueous crusing licence holders and those with legit. residential moorings.

But what about the ‘illigit’ boaters including live aboards who are often (sweeping statement I know) a hard to reach group and some times inclined to stick 2 fingers up to authority?

What about other users - walkers, cyclists, fishermen etc? Or is the job aimed primarily at C&RT; staff?

Could the post holder find themeselves in a similar position to some welfs in LA contesting decisions of colleagues in HB/housing dept?

Incidently, cruising around parts of the W Midlands network last week it was noticable how few ‘live aboard’ non-continueous cruising boats there are compared to the GU in London or Milton Keynes for example. Does this indicate enforcemment by C&RT;, a lack of housing crisis in the area or is it just [tongue in cheek] an undesirable place to moor?

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Peter Turville - 03 September 2014 11:06 AM

Dan
It would also be interesting to know who C&RT; envisage as the ‘target’ client groups.

Clearly there will be some boat owners who are ‘legitimate’ who may need support - for example because of a sudden change in circumstances that mean (amongst other things) they are unable to pay their licence, mooring fees etc. That group could include crusing and contiueous crusing licence holders and those with legit. residential moorings.

But what about the ‘illigit’ boaters including live aboards who are often (sweeping statement I know) a hard to reach group and some times inclined to stick 2 fingers up to authority?

I take issue with the division into legitimate and illegitimate boat dwellers. It reminds me of the division between the “deserving” and “undeserving” poor.  In practice, both the “hard to reach” boat dwellers and those who have had a sudden change in circumstances may need assistance from the Welfare Officer. The job isn’t aimed at any other users and it’s not aimed at staff, it is aimed at those whose boat is their home.

I am sure the post holder will find themselves contesting decisions of colleagues in the enforcement department - that is why it needs a strong candidate, and that’s why I’ve posted information about it on here, as it seems there are many strong and highly effective welfare rights specialists that use this forum.

Unfortunately for some reason the job isn’t being advertised here but the closing date is 12th September, it is of course on the Canal & River Trust’s web site.

 

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Peter Turville - 03 September 2014 11:06 AM

Dan


But what about the ‘illigit’ boaters including live aboards who are often (sweeping statement I know) a hard to reach group and some times inclined to stick 2 fingers up to authority?

Incidently, cruising around parts of the W Midlands network last week it was noticable how few ‘live aboard’ non-continueous cruising boats there are compared to the GU in London or Milton Keynes for example. Does this indicate enforcemment by C&RT;, a lack of housing crisis in the area or is it just [tongue in cheek] an undesirable place to moor?

Sorry for my delay in responding to this but I’ve needed to let the red mist of yet another cc bashing thread on a more appropriate forum pass.

Being one of those boaters without a home mooring who gets paid to stick two fingers up to authority (and indulges it with great relish) I have some concerns around the polarisation of the debate. I have the pleasure of knowing one of the people who gave evidence to the Lords’ enquiry into the 94 BW bill and even had the honour of meeting Nick Grazebrook once. One thing that I take from that is the current ire in certain corners of the boating community toward non compliant boaters without a home mooring is that there is no fixed definition of what “compliant” is. Even HH O’Malley in Davies didn’t give us a bright line.

The position envisaged by the Lords was one of people pottering around a lot; which I and a lot of my friends do faithfully, not across huge areas either; the Lords specifically deviated from setting minimum distance requirements after BW lobbied for them when S17(3)(c)(ii) was included.  Sadly the reasons for that are not admissible to enforcement proceedings in the County Court however for the purposes of this debate I can say with some authority that the situation envisaged by the Lords broadly reflects my circumstances.

I have ties to work however move far enough that in two and a half years of this stretch of my boating life (I’ve lived aboard for nearly 15 years now)  I have not once attracted enforcement activity even during a purge last year on the south end of the shroppie and the Staffie. There is a lot of misplaced grief being poured against me and my ilk however I am comfortable that I am “legit” within the model of cc envisaged by the Lords back in 94/5.

I do agree that there are people who take root in one spot and maybe only move for water and return to the same spot and that is unlawful and merits sanction, however the broader debate is coloured by the politics of avarice and parsimony and I would thus preach caution. One thing that always attracts my ire is where a person passes a boat, such as mine, assumes we’re just ‘ippies and are inevitably breaking the rules when there is no evidence of the same other than some logs on the roof, oh, and CRT sent my licence to the wrong address this year; last year’s disc in the window really sets the curtains twitching.

As to the West Mids if you were on the Birmingham or Erdington levels they’re just not nice places to moor; stuff gets nicked. Down on the Staffy/Shroppie there’s a few people bobbing around and there’re loads on the B&F/Coventry but that reflects the widely appreciated problem that there aren’t enough res’ moorings in the West Mids. . On the whole though there aren’t as many cc boats as Oxford/Bath/London as housing’s cheaper.

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Hi Dan
Yes, sorry, ill chosen phrase (I feel a bit like Lord Freud!) and probably a discussion for another forum. Perhaps a more appropriate term might be ‘non-compliant with the rules’ given that there is no clear definition of when continueous crusing is not contineuous crusing’!

I raise the issue not only with a life long interest in canals but it is an issue that crops up from time to time during my work. Working with clients who live on boats locally on both C&RT; and EA waters and that housing shortage / price locally is such an issue here. Many of those clients tell me that they don’t live on a boat as a preferred option but the only option (as they see it) - although I accept they arr not a representative sample.

I suppose the biggger question is what is the future purpose of our waterways? Given its no longer commercial carrying and largely dependent on ‘leisure activities’ (and drainage) as the base purpose for funding what will be the long term impact of ever increasing bank side morring? I don’t mean just live aboard boats but generally. I know many boaters who now avoid areas like London & Milton Keynes as its no fun doing mile after mile at tickover (no fun in a heavy trad boat that steers like a pig on tick over!) or trying to find an overnight mooring etc.

Ultimately if users (not just boaters) are put off using stretches of canal what will that mean for future funding - which would also impact on people who live aboard (you may recall the issues around residential boats during the restoration of the Basingstoke?). Canals were not designed for linear moorings or to be linear housing estates.

Whats the answer? Off line moorings? Is the development of more residential moorings one answer to the housing issues in some areas? Some of my clients might like an answer to the housing question at least!

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Did anything come of this post i.e. was there an appointment at all?

Reason I’m asking is a friend of mine who is down in the City Road Basin was asking me the other day as he was interested.

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Paul_Treloar_CPAG - 05 November 2014 05:20 PM

Did anything come of this post i.e. was there an appointment at all?

Reason I’m asking is a friend of mine who is down in the City Road Basin was asking me the other day as he was interested.

Paul - I have not seen any announcement of an appointment although creation of the post received coverage in the waterways press. Perhaps Panda / Dan can provide an update?

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I am told that they have announced an appointment in one of the boating rags, probably Waterways World. I haven’t seen it myself. Looks like a bit of a stitch up to ber honest which is a shame; it’ll be interesting to see whether the successful candidate hits the job spec.

[ Edited: 7 Nov 2014 at 12:48 pm by Dan_Manville ]
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Peter Turville - 16 October 2014 09:33 AM

Hi Dan


Ultimately if users (not just boaters) are put off using stretches of canal what will that mean for future funding - which would also impact on people who live aboard (you may recall the issues around residential boats during the restoration of the Basingstoke?). Canals were not designed for linear moorings or to be linear housing estates.

Whats the answer? Off line moorings? Is the development of more residential moorings one answer to the housing issues in some areas? Some of my clients might like an answer to the housing question at least!

Ultimatley I feel the answer will be for CRT and the IWA to accept that the macroeconomic climate is a bigger driver than the boat polishers’ wishes and that they are stuck with a good proportion of residential boaters who; in the areas you mention, will move off when the climate improves. There is niether will within the higher echelons of CRT nor funding to commence the level of enforcement that would be required tgo change things. The new mooring overstay “charges” are being applied peicemeal -I suspect for fear of someone challeninging their refusal of a licence when it’s not paid and for teh avoidance of doubt I will say that the new charges are not enforceable with a alicence but are recoverable in the County Court as a normal debt.

CRT have come up with their mew SE mooring management scheme despite no evidence; other than anecdotal, that there is a problem with congestion at the sites they have chosen but again that doesn’t cure the problem of lots of res’ boats.

They *could limit the number of new boats coming onto the system, or strengthen the BSS to exclude a lot more older boats; seeing the stock coming out of Whilton Marine that would probably help stem the tide, but I think it will be natural wasteage for existing craft in the problem areas. I can’t see them building budget marinas in an environment where the moorings market is rigged to maintain BWML funded marina’s charges at a level where their loans are likely to get paid back rather than defaulted on.

Now; procrastination aside I’ve work to do… Ironically enough from the hard standing as my new blacking dries!

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DManville - 07 November 2014 12:33 PM


Now; procrastination aside I’ve work to do… Ironically enough from the hard standing as my new blacking dries!

and I’ve got to prepare to ******* my back at Bowbridge Lock this w/e .... over a pint or three sometime!