Hi

I can now confirm details of the next NAWRA meeting. This will be held:

- at Wakefield Town Hall (Kingswood Suite), Wakefield WF1 2HQ

- on Friday 8th June 2007

Refreshments are available from 9.30 am and the meeting will start at 10.00 am. Both the Town Hall and the social evening venue are close to the main Wakefield Westgate railway station.

PLEASE NOTE that a booking form must be completed in advance of the event! This can be obtained from the new NAWRA website (www.nawra.org.uk) under the "What's New" section. Maps, directions and other useful information are also available there.

Our guest speaker is Gary Vaux, Head of Welfare Rights and Money Advice at Hertfordshire County Council. Gary will lead a discussion around developments in Joint Teams and other partnership arrangements.

There will also be an information exchange and workshop sessions including:

- Consultation with the DWP - Advisers appear to be working at a time of unprecedented (albeit highly selective) government consultation on social security policies but with ever decreasing returns. Are we simply a convenient tick box to enhance government credibility? Does consultation work? Do we need a consultation manifesto and if so what would it say? This workshop is designed to stimulate discussion based on advisers' experience at both local and national level and is led by Alaster Calder, Senior Benefits Policy Adviser at Surrey County Council and the LGA's representative on the new JCP National Consultative Forum.

- Late Appeals – Anecdotal evidence suggests that very few late appeals are submitted. Jim McKenny, who works for Kirklees council and is a member of the NAWRA committee, will lead a workshop examining the law and tactics regarding late appeals with the aim of increasing the numbers submitted.

- Right to Reside caselaw update - This workshop will look at the current state of play regarding recent legal challenges to the right to reside test. It will also enable advisers to discuss tactics for advising those who are refused benefit and how the test is being applied nationally. The workshop assumes a knowledge of the right to reside test itself – it would help if advisers could bring details of useful caselaw decisions they may have come across for discussion. The workshop will be facilitated by Tim Samuel - a barrister at the chambers of Sibghat Kadri, 6 King's Bench Walk and previously a welfare rights worker for numerous years.

For those arriving the night before, our colleagues in Wakefield will be hosting a social evening at "The Gate", 60 Northgate, Wakefield, WF1 3AP from 7pm on the Thursday evening. Members are also encouraged to stay on "post-meeting" Friday for networking purposes!

Hope to see you all there!

Alan Markey
NAWRA committee chair