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  • Strength in Advice

Strength in Advice

This is a guide that contains very practical tools to deal with very tough times. The work of advice services has never been easy. The impact of spending cuts and wider government policy over the next few years is going to be huge.

We don’t want a lot of your time: you should be able to read this in no more than 20 minutes. If you are interested in training on how to develop new advice services, please get in touch with the AdviceUK Training Team at training@adviceuk.org.uk and ask for more information on our specially-designed training session, Sharp Tools for Tough Times.

Everything listed below is based on the direct experience of AdviceUK members and our Development Team. If you want to take a particular issue further, we’ve given some links that we – or other AdviceUK members – have found useful. You may have things to add, so let us know by e-mailing the AdviceUK Development Team at development@adviceuk.org.uk. Please also let us know if links are broken or out of date.

What your clients face in 2011

Big changes to welfare benefits – Newcastle City's welfare benefits team have produced a very helpful summary which is regularly updated. Speak to your local authority and find out what they are doing to prepare. Engage with networks such as the National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers (NAWRA) and Rightsnet.

Big changes to social housing – this is also covered in the Newcastle City link above. Think about how you could work with housing associations and other Registered Social Landlords to support their residents. You can find names of local housing associations by visiting the Tenant Services Authority. If you want to make contact with housing professionals (for example to discover what they are doing around financial inclusion), why not sign up for one of the forums run by the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Unemployment going up, incomes going down – you may not have looked at your charitable objects in a while, but our guess is that the word 'poverty' will come up. AdviceUK is developing links with Oxfam to support your work to combat poverty. Back up your arguments with data from The Poverty Site.

Keeping old services going, developing new ones, dealing with cuts

Find new funding for the old service – have a look at funding streams like the BLF’s Reaching Communities programme, sign up for  Funding Central, make time to look for new funders such as the VOLANT Charitable Trust. The Big Lottery is also developing a new funding programme around financial inclusion and housing, check their site for details.

Develop different services – AdviceUK member Cheltenham Housing Aid has refocused its housing advice service on those in mental ill health and those with drug and alcohol issues.

Find different income streams – if you’re considering social enterprise or income generation, have a look at NCVO’s Get Legal website and the Social Enterprise Coalition. Sign up to your local social enterprise network, for example se2 partnership. AdviceUK member Homemaker South West has set up a Mortgage Arrears helpline, this organisation is working with housing associations in the West Midlands on a social enterprise basis, AdviceUK member BYHP is on a roll after setting up a social enterprise with the aim of eventually generating income for the organisation’s wider work.

Think about how you might deploy volunteers to support your advice services and the wider work of your organisation – something that AdviceUK member Bestwood Advice Centre has done very successfully.

Find different partners – have you considered working with children’s centres? Local GP surgeries (particularly in the light of GP consortia and projects such as Benefits in Practice)? Housing associations? Utility providers and associated charitable funds? This is a good place to start for information on working collaboratively, as are AdviceUK’s website resources.

Influence and challenge funding decisions – show how advice saves money for the public sector, for example AdviceUK’s BOLD report on advice outcomes in Coventry. Talk to local politicians and consider whether you can negotiate or challenge funding decisions. You can get information on how to do this from the Empowering the Voluntary Sector project. Don’t forget to tell us what’s happening to your funding!

Make time to plan – hold a strategy day for your staff and trustees to discuss how to respond to increasing demand and cuts that may be in the pipeline. Who else could you work with? Involve key stakeholders and potential partners.

Cut expenditure immediately – change telecoms, IT or utilities providers, link with others to get cheaper bulk deals – for example on office supplies or payroll services. Could you reduce your premises costs by working in different ways or co-locating with other organisations?

Merger – not a quick (or easy) solution to dealing with crises, but if you’re looking at this, NCVO’s guidance is helpful.

Downsize or close – before you make people redundant or close have a look at this briefing by Wendy Blake-Ranken. Make sure you’re up to speed with the relevant HR and governance issues, this briefing produced by AdviceUK and the Law Centres Federation is a good summary. More information on redundancy can be found on the NCVO website. The Charity Commission have guidance on winding up charities and managing financial difficulties and insolvency.

This is what AdviceUK believes in and why we think advice is worth fighting for - what about you?

Advice that puts the client at the centre of everything. Diverse organisations serving diverse communities. Advice that works with the whole person, linking effectively with other services and support. The value of local commitment. Advice that addresses the root causes of poverty and disadvantage. Inclusive local advice networks. Recognition of the wider impact of advice and its potential to improve publicly-funded services. Advice that is focused on prevention. The principle of grassroots up, not top down.

Campaigning for advice

Visit our pages on campaigning against the cuts, and sign up with and support Justice for All. Tell us about campaigns that you are running locally, so that we can make the case nationally. Look at what other local networks are doing, such as the BAN network in London or Say NO to legal aid cuts in the South West.

See also our Campaign Resources page and our Campaign Pathway - A simple guide to planning and implementing an effective local strategy for influencing a decision or making a positive change.

Could you use social networks like Twitter to raise media awareness of your services, like Sedgemoor CAB? Participate in social networks like My Legal and encourage your clients to share their stories of how advice has helped them.

How does advice fit into the bigger picture

Spending cuts – it all seems to be about deficit reduction – so how can advice help cut the deficit? This was our response to the coalition government.

Big Society – how does advice fit into the concept of the Big Society and localism? We’ve put together some initial suggestions that will be available on the website shortly.

Personalisation – this is our briefing on the potential impact of personalisation of adult social care on advice services.

User involvement – have a look at the Involve, Engage, Empower toolkit.

Social return on investment – make sure you know the jargon, see The SROI Network. There have been some specific reports looking at the social return on investment for advice, for example this from Leeds City Council, this from Citizens Advice on legal aid, and AdviceUK’s work on Outcomes in Advice in Coventry.

If you provide money advice – the Money Advice Trust Information Hub has a wealth of material you can use to make the case for the value of your work. Don't forget the specific support that AdviceUK provides around money advice!

Top tips on what to do

If you are planning formal collaborations with other organisations – be aware of issues such as VAT chargeable on services provided to other organisations.

Involve everyone in your team – your trustees may need to hold their nerve. Some of us found these Principles for Creating Healthy Community Change helpful to disperse the doom and gloom.

Engage those who get advice from your organisation – see how AdviceUK member Community Links did this in their response to the recent consultation by the coalition government on reforms to welfare benefits.

Top tips on what not to do

Don’t try to go it alone – AdviceUK members throughout England, Scotland and Wales are meeting to discuss how they can be stronger together, have a look at networks like the BME Advice Network in London, Advice West, Advice Services Coventry or Bedfordshire Advice Forum and consider how you could share the burden of costs such as training and how you might influence key decision makers. Many local advice networks have found advice strategies a very helpful way of developing a coordinated approach to the issues faced in their area. In London, our development team have been working in several different boroughs to develop common strategies around the commissioning and provision of advice services.  

Collaborate around issues that matter to your clients – engage with local networks relevant to advice provision such as Financial Capability Forums (see this page on our website for more information on what they do, and why they're important).

Don’t meet current needs without making time to do things that give you a better chance of being here in 3 years time – easier said than done, we know, but absolutely vital!

Attached documents