Social Policy

Are you angry, frustrated, unsure where to turn? Is your problem likely to happen again to someone else?

Social policy work is any action taken to prevent problems that a number of people may face. One of our aims at Citizens Advice is to help prevent repeated injustice to our clients.

When we see repeated injustice we try to prevent it from happening again. A client who comes in to see us with a problem may feel that much better when they see that they can help others to avoid the same difficulties.

We can help in a number of ways. First we record the issue anonymously so that we can see whether there are other similar issues either locally or nationally.

Most importantly we can tell our clients what their rights are and how to complain or challenge decisions and procedures (for example selling something without fully explaining it first).

We can give this first-hand evidence to those organisations creating the problem to stop it happening again, either by changing their practice or by changing their policies.

We can also lobby for change – for example with the local benefits agency and the local councils.

Between April and July 2009 the most frequent cases of injustice that clients have brought to us were:

  1. problems with the payment of benefits - especially delays in Housing Benefit and Employment and Support Allowance;
  2. bad practice in debt collection – for example clients harassed by certain banks and other organisations for debts they owe.

Worthing Benefits Delivery Centre have put into place additional staff to deal with Incapacity Benefit and the increasing numbers of claims for Job Seekers Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance. Clients should begin to see improvements in the telephone service for these claims by the end of this year as new staff are trained up.

Nationally cases are taken up with the government –Citizens Advice is currently campaigning to:

  • streamline procedures for writing off outstanding Tax Credit debt from 2003/04 and 2004/05;
  • abolish the additional charges that letting agents impose on tenants;
  • enforce the payment of money awarded to people who win Employment Tribunals but do not receive the money awarded to them;  
  • call for a just, efficient welfare benefits and tax credits system (the Citizens Advice Fair Welfare campaign);
  • raise concerns with Jobcentre Plus and the Department for Work and Pensions nationally.

Jenny Lansdell

I took up this appointment as Social Policy Coordinator in March 2009. My previous experience has been in schools and universities where I worked as a teacher, lecturer and senior manager. I find voluntary work very rewarding, especially being able to make a difference, however small, for individual people. I advise clients as well as carrying out social policy work in the bureau. This involves working with all the other advisers to identify any incidents of injustice, collating the evidence accumulating in the bureau about these cases, and referring them on to our central office in London. Specific issues are beginning to emerge that need further communication with local services and providers – banks and benefit offices (see above). I look forward to making contact with many more organisations and providers in the future.

Please contact us if you have any Social Policy issues you would like to discuss or raise.