Citizens Advice Cumbria Cumbria County Council Money/ Debt Advice Service Allerdale Citizens Advice Bureau Reporting period October 2011 to September 2012 General Help with Casework Figures for Year Number of Money / Debt Advice Cases Closed 90 Number of Debts 126 Value of Debt - Priority 166,481 Value of Debt - Non-Priority 294,534 Total Debt 461,014 Specialist Help with Casework Figures for Year Number of Money / Debt Advice Cases Closed 241 Number of Debts 1,506 Value of Debt - Priority 948,619 Value of Debt - Non-Priority 2,180,576 Total Debt 3,129,196 Client Profile Data for clients seen with a new enquiry Data is based on 323 enquiries opened during the period Age range of clients seen with a new enquiry during the period October 2011 to September 2012 17 to 24 yrs 25 to 34 yrs 35 to 49 yrs 50 to 64 yrs 65 to 74 yrs 75 to 84 yrs Unknown or Withheld 1% 2% 6% 8% 21% 22% 39% 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Ethnicity of clients seen with a new enquiry during the period October 2011 to September 2012 Mixed White/Asian Unknown or Withheld Other Asian background Other White background 0.6% 0.9% 0.6% 1.5% White British 95.4% White Irish 0.9% 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Disability status of clients seen with a new enquiry during the period October 2011 to September 2012 Disabled - visual impairment 0% Disabled - mental health 1% Disabled - no details Disabled - physical impairment (non sensory) Long-term health condition 10% 3% 3% Not Disabled Unknown/Withheld 24% 59% 0 50 100 150 200 250 Occupation of clients seen with a new enquiry during the period October 2011 to September 2012 Carer - elderly/disabled Employed less than 30 hrs p/w Employed more than or equal to 30 hrs p/w Unknown/Withheld Other Permanently sick/disabled Retired Student Unemployed 1% 1% 2% 0% 4% 20% 22% 25% 26% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Income of clients seen with a new enquiry during the period October 2011 to September 2012 Less than 400 pcm 400-599 pcm 600-999 pcm 1,000-1,499 pcm 1,500-1,999 pcm 2,000-2,499 pcm 2,500-2,999 pcm More than 3,000 pcm Unknown/Withheld 0% 2% 8% 8% 12% 18% 17% 34% 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Ward names of clients seen with a new enquiry during the period October 2011 to September 2012 All Saints Aspatria Boltons Broughton St Christchurch Clifton Derwent Valley Distington Egremont North Egremont Ellen Ellenborough Ewanrigg Flimby Harbour Harrington Holme Keswick Mirehouse Moorclose Moresby Moss Bay Netherhall Seaton Silloth St Bees St John's St Michael's Stainburn Solway Waver Wharrels Wigton 1.86% 3.72% 0.62% 1.86% 3.10% 1.24% 3.10% 0.62% 2.79% 3.10% 2.17% 1.24% 1.86% 1.24% 0.62% 3.72% 3.41% 2.48% 1.24% 0.62% 2.48% 6.19% 5.57% 4.95% 12.38% 13.31% 12.69% 0 10 20 30 40 50
Narrative Report Allerdale Citizens Advice Bureau Period April - June 2012 Delivery challenges - Have you faced any particular challenges with delivering the Project in the period and how have you addressed those? Please include both challenges internal to your organisation and challenges of working with others. Access what is the current waiting time to see a money adviser? Debt profile - Do you have any general observations to make on the nature of debts or clients you are helping with CCC funds (i.e. types of debts different to normal ; amount of debt different; diversity of client profile?) Innovation are there any initiatives you have taken as part of this Project which other participants could learn from? (e.g. production of new materials or processes for dealing with money advice) Social policy e.g. have you identified any social policy issues from work with clients in this Project? Have you taken action on any of these issues and if so how and with what result? Case studies are there any particular successes that you would like to report from the quarter? Could you please provide 2 or 3 case studies. One of our Money Advice Workers has suffered a detached retina and will be off work for at least 6 weeks. Emergencies are seen straight away, initial interview on day of visit, further appointments within 3 weeks. We are seeing a broader spectrum of clients from those on benefit to those with higher incomes. There are also a higher number of clients of retirement age and above. Meeting with local authority to try to set up a referral arrangement for those in mortgage arrears who have their details sent to Client has suffered loss of income due to sudden illness of her husband, he now cannot work and client has had to give up work to act as a full carer for him and their 3 children one of whom also has a disability. Creditor has been receiving payments of just under contractual amount but is going for a forthwith CCJ and immediate application for a charging order. This is being challenged and an application for an affordable instalment order applied for. This is important as a charging order would
end the right of the client to claim ownership of the family home in the event of her husband s death and could mean the forced sale of the property which has been adapted to meet the needs of her disabled child. Promotional activities please provide details of any media, or external promotional activities you have undertaken locally in the quarter (eg meetings with MPs or councillors, events, press activity) directly related to the Project and what the outcome was. Other - Is there anything else you want to report or raise via this report? No
Cumbria County Council Money / Debt Advice Service Narrative Report Period July September 2012 Delivery challenges - Have you faced any particular challenges with delivering the Project in the period and how have you addressed those? Please include both challenges internal to your organisation and challenges of working with others. Access what is the current waiting time to see a money adviser? Debt profile - Do you have any general observations to make on the nature of debts or clients you are helping with CCC funds (i.e. types of debts different to normal ; amount of debt different; diversity of client profile?) Innovation are there any initiatives you have taken as part of this Project which other participants could learn from? (e.g. production of new materials or processes for dealing with money advice) A Money Advice Worker suffered a serious injury and was off work for 2 months. This challenge was met by redeployment of staff. Initial appointment to deal with emergencies - no waiting list up to 2 weeks for main appointment to draw up Financial Statement. Debt Relief orders have continued to increase as have the number of Bankruptcies. We are noticing an increase in the number of creditors with unsecured debts applying for charging orders to attempt to secure against other assets; usually houses. Nothing this quarter Social policy e.g. have you identified any social policy issues from work with clients in this Project? Have you taken action on any of these issues and if so how and with what result? Promotional activities please provide details of any media, or external promotional activities you have undertaken locally in the quarter (eg meetings with MPs or councillors, events, press activity) directly related to the Project and what the outcome was. Other - Is there anything else you want to report or raise via this report? Working with Cumbria Advice Network to start to gather evidence on a countywide basis. Working with Cumbria Financial Inclusion Forum to promote the need for high quality debt and benefits advice..
Cumbria County Council Money / Debt Advice Service Feedback from Client Questionnaires from July to September 2012 1 Allerdale Citizens Advice Bureau Q1. How satisfied were you with our overall level of service? Response Number Percent Very satisfied 9 100% Q1a. If dissatisfied please tell us why this is Q2. Did we give you information/ advice that was easy to understand? Q2a. How might we improve? Response Number Percent Very easy 6 66% Fairly easy 3 33% Q3. How informative did you find our staff? Q4. How well did we keep you up-to-date with progress? Response Number Percent Response Number Percent Very good 9 100% Very well 9 100% Q5. How well did we listen to what you had to say? Q6. Did we treat you fairly at all times? Response Number Percent Response Number Percent Very well 9 100% Yes 9 100% Fairly well 0.0% No 0.0% Fairly poor 0.0% Don't know 0.0% Q6a. If you believe you were treated unfairly due to e.g. your ethnic background sex, religion or any other reason please tell us briefly what happened. No responses Q7. Would you recommend us to someone else if they needed money/debt help or advice? Response Number Percent Certain to 8 89% Likely to 1 11% Q7a. Please give your reason(s) for your answer to Q7. My caseworker was brilliant, very on the ball 1 Based on 9 responses received
Q8. Was the result of your case better, worse or the same as we had advised you? No responses. Q9. Please tell us how you heard about our organisation and whether it was easy or difficult to make initial contact. Through friends. I was nervous at first but after contacting you I felt more at ease From friends quite easy to make contact but quite a long wait initially It is well known and friends and family told me to get help through Citizens Advice. It is well publicised. Previous contact it is very easy to make that initial contact reassuring response from the start Heard from other people and it was easy to make contact I already know of Citizens Advice From a friend Q10. Do you have any further comments or suggestions that may help us to improve our level of service? Your level of service is excellent Just thank you I was lucky to be kept informed and had correspondence sent to me and was treated with respect. My partner had very little communication or help to organise his debt plan (through a different provider). He had no idea how things were going. I m happy but feel for him. Just like to say thankyou for all the help the service provided was excellent No improvements needed Possibly to see the same adviser through the case