Hi

To set the scene....there is no LA welfare rights unit in the county I work in. Provision is patchy and done to very differing levels with varied levels of quality. There is a joint working team established.

We received Partnership Fund monies to do take up work among older people. The bid was for us to do lots of awareness raising, run a helpline, do comprehensive assessment for benefit entitlement, instruct the local Pension Service accordingly for forms completion, and then follow every claim through to appeal if necessary. That's worked okay - the only hiccup being visiting officers not following instructions properly, but as we follow it all up, errors are dealt with. Its all quite 'joined up' as the lingo goes.

Now.....what has started to trickle through from appeal referrals we've had no initial involvement with is that visiting staff are following up claims they've made. If eg a DLA/AA claim is refused they will contact Blackpool to ask the DM to reassess but do nowt else ie not gather evidence. I have 3 main concerns:

1. its good they're following claims up but those claims are trickling through to appeal.....possibly claimants are giving up cos they think they're not entitled, are not confident enough to lodge appeal etc etc....all those identified barriers that stop older people claiming benefits come into play again as well as the identified barriers that deter people from appealing. What's even more concerning is that the visiting staff are genuinely surprised that decisions are not being overturned and that Blackpool 'don't believe' their claimants are entitled
2. the quality of the work - if we can manage a full benefit assessment and provide clear instructions that are not then followed, what's happening when those instructions and our intervention isn't happening? These are staff with benefits experience - what about the other staff in the joint working teams
3. I'm hitting a brick wall with attempts to establish referral links and being told visiting officers would get into trouble if they referred to us or anybody else not in the department(!??)

I spoke to someone at CPAG who told me he knew off some parts of the country where written 'referral on for appeal' protocols had been established - does anyone have one of these or have referral links in place with DWP local offices?

I'd also be interested in others' relevant thoughts on the matters raised

Thanks

I'm quite concerned by your point (1) - do you mean that your clients are getting talked out of following up appeals against decisions made on their benefit claims? By DWP/JC+/Ao staff?

Not really Paul.....my concern lies more with what's known about this population group ie: they don't claim benefits because of stigma etc; it takes all sort of effort to get them to make enquiries; you get them to claim because you assess grounds of entitlement are present; they get turned down cos the dept has made a bad decision; the clients feel they've done something wrong so don't want to appeal. Also, as you all know, the research shows people appeal because they have a particular characteristic - assertive, higher social class, bloody minded, have a sense of injustice.


The 'No, I'll just leave it dear.....they must be right and you've got so many other things to do' type of response is much more typical though. A good welfare rights worker would pull out all powers of persuasion to turn round that attitude, and that's what we do with all claims we are involved in. Then we start to gather evidence to try and resolve before it reaches a tribunal. There are plenty others being dealt with by joint teams/pension service staff who do not have such back up - at least in this locality. Those staff mentioned are more passive and don't have the experience.

My concern lies with catching those claimants because I am sure many AA claimants, for example, will not pursue the issue without a lot of encouragement. Case example of a recent appeal. 96 year old with significant visual impairment in both eyes, wears 2 hearing aids, multiple joints affected by arthritis, osteoporosis, propensity to falling. Claim handled by DWP VO....turned down, VO helps with recon request and then with GL24, no evidence sought, nephew eventually tracks us down because he's adamant somethings not right(!). An extreme scenario perhaps but it could have been so easily cleared up very quickly before a tribunal hearing.

Long winded way of coming back to the original point - anyone know of these established referral arrangements where DWP pass on to advice agencies for help? The thinking behind it is for me to get the leverage to show them how we can work well together....

Thanks

No protocol but arrangement works well. Wirral has a joint LA/PS team. WRU is separate but organisationally close to LA part of joint team. LA element in joint team do DLA claims, PS element do AA claims, both refer to us in the case of refusal or inadequate awards.

Some of the AA claims are a bit hopeful, mind you. Some clients are very impressed by the fact that a 'government official' said they should get paid so this might be a helpful angle in encouraging take up.

Richard Atkinson

Thank you Richard

As stated we have no WRU in this locality (so no immediate contact with the Fairer Charging team), provision is patchy, and there's a very defensive attitude. Would you/your manager be happy to chat to me with regards how you set up the referral arrangements?

My direct line is 01323 514531.

Deni

Seperate but related - I might have missed something - but we have been informed by local Pension Service that next year nationally they will be merging with Disabilty and Carers Service and will therefore be able to do visits to complete DLA forms for all age groups - does anyone have any more info