Advice review

The Cabinet Office is leading a review into the future of advice charities and how Government can support them.

Justice for All ensured the views of over 150 front line advice workers and partners were heard by the Review team in four focus groups in January 2012. Their priorities and experiences are outlined in our Advice Needs report.

Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd, who is leading the Review, spoke to a room packed with front line campaigners at a specially arranged parliamentary event in May 2012. See more.

Previous work:

Easter campaign

Justice for All asked all advice charity campaigners to request a meeting with their MP over the 2012 Easter recess to discuss the future of advice in their local area.

Use our template letter to help, or the key points below.

jfa_AC_templateletter.doc (MS Word Document - 29Kb)

Key points

The Government will support advice charities with a £20m fund for 2013-14 and again in 2014-15. This is good news, but it is only part of what's needed to ensure advice charities can continue to help the people who need it.

The fund cannot replace legal aid. It is vital that the Government preserves the amendment won in the House of Lords to retain legal aid for the most serious and complex welfare benefits cases.

Use our short briefing to help explain why it is so important.

How the fund is targeted is a crucial question. Justice for All's report, Advice Needs: what local advice charities need to continue serving their communities, sets some broad principles for funding advice charities.

Drawing on the experiences of people the front line of advice, it reflects their priorities for targeting scarce cash and shares their experience in how funding can support the most effective ways of delivering advice.

Use the Executive Summary to outline what's needed.

MPs can help by:

• asking the Secretary of State for Justice and their party leader to preserve legal aid for the most serious and complex welfare benefits problems.

• asking the Cabinet Office for more clarity on the Advice Review aims and recommending they take account of the principles identified in the Advice Needs report.

Other actions

Justice for All campaigners are writing to their MP to ask them to protect legal aid advice. Do encourage your staff, volunteers and clients to take action.

Share your views

Impact survey

Thanks to over 200 advice charities who completed our survey on the impact of funding cuts on their services. The results were included in Justice for All's Advice needs report and are published in detail as an appendix.

Advice Review Focus Groups

Thanks to over 150 people from frontline advice agencies and their partners who attended focus groups in early 2012.

Justice for All is working with the Cabinet Office’s Advice Review to make sure voices from the front-line of advice are heard at the heart of Government. The Advice Review is looking at the problems facing the advice sector and how the Government can support it.

We held focus groups to draw out the problems advice charities face and what would help them get on with what they do best - giving advice. Cabinet Office staff attended each focus group.

The findings of the focus groups shaped Justice for All's Advice needs report and are published in detail as an appendix.

Events were held at:

Sheffield - Friday 20 Jan
The Circle / Voluntary Action Sheffield, 33 Rockingham Lane, Sheffield, S1 4FW

Birmingham - Tues 24 Jan
The Priory Rooms, Quaker Meeting House, 40 Bull Street, Birmingham B4 6AF

Bristol - Tues 31 Jan
DAC Beachcroft, Portwall Place, Bristol BS1 6NB

London - Weds 1 Feb
The Resource Centre, 356 Holloway Road, N7 6PA