Whilst welcoming the recent Government announcement that vital frontline advice services across England will receive a multi million pounds support package Roger does not believe that this will compensate for money already lost to these services.
“It’s an all too familiar story” he said recently, “you slash one budget and then announce ‘new money’ at a significantly lower level with all sorts of strings attached.”
The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has launched the Advice to Services Transition Fund which will provide grants of between £50,000 and £350,000 to partnerships of local advice providers that can come together in an area and produce plans to improve services and make them viable. The Big Lottery Fund is operating the programme and has contributed half the value of the fund.
“Partnerships should reflect the needs of the people and communities in their local areas and include providers of welfare benefits, debt, housing and employment advice” said Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society.
Roger said: “Whilst news of this support package is welcome I cannot help feeling that it is a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Budgets for many not- for- profit advice providers have been slashed and half of the money available in this new fund will be coming from the lottery and not the public purse. How does this money help those organizations who have already had to lay off experienced welfare or debt advisers, for example? How does any of this help the person on the street who has just lost their benefits after an Atos medical and needs representation at an appeal tribunal?
As always, the devil will be in the detail and the requirement for providers “to come together and demonstrate new ways of working that will improve local services” places the onus on local providers ‘to fight’ for and justify the money that has already been taken away from them. “
He went on to say: “The introduction of Universal Credit next year is one of the most fundamental reorganizations of benefits delivery since the inception of the welfare state and I can’t help feeling that Ministers are feeling increasingly uneasy that all this is happening at a time when budgets to long established advice providers such as Citizens Advice are being slashed. This could be the Perfect Storm and it’s heading in their direction!!”

This article appeared in the December edition of Roger's newsletter 'Postcard from Parliament'