Following a successful competitive tendering and procurement exercise, AdviceUK has been appointed by the Scottish Government once again, to distribute and manage the Advice in Accessible Settings fund. The fund, which began delivery in 2023 is being continued and increased in 2026-29 with up to £1.8 million available in small grants each year for the next 3 years, […]

Drawing on the experiences of its member organisations, which provide frontline, independent and free immigration and asylum advice, AdviceUK has responded to the Home Office’s “The new Independent Appeals Body” consultation.   We support the Government’s efforts  to reduce delays and backlogs in the immigration and asylum appeals system. However, the current proposals set out in the consultation are unlikely to achieve these aims. If anything, they risk creating further inefficiencies, delays, and exacerbating existing problems in the system.   Our members in the immigration and asylum advice sector tell us that the […]

Responding to the BBC’s report on rogue immigration advisers, Dr Zubaida Haque, Head of Policy, Programmes and Media at AdviceUK said:   “We are really saddened to hear people desperately needing advice are exploited by rogue immigration advisers charging extortionate fees for poor and negligent advice. Our members in the independent advice sector regularly observe this. The impact on individuals can be catastrophic. The Brushstrokes […]

The Home Office has launched a new consultation seeking views on proposed reforms to the asylum appeals system. The consultation, launched by the Home Office, is part of the Government’s plan to overhaul the asylum appeals system by creating a new independent appeals body. The deadline to submit evidence is on 22 April and AdviceUK […]

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a public call for evidence to inform the Timms Review into Personal Independence Payment (PIP). This consultation provides an important opportunity for AdviceUK members to help shape the future of disability benefits policy. As part of the Government’s wider reforms to the health and disability benefits […]

The Home Secretary’s latest announcements will place additional demand on already overstretched advice services, making it more difficult to help people get settled, integrate, and promote community cohesion, AdviceUK, the largest network of free and independent advice services, said. Against the backdrop of the controversial “earned settlement” consultation, the Home Secretary has made further staggering […]

Every day, at AdviceUK, we advocate on behalf of you – our members. We work closely with you to understand and cover the issues that affect you and your clients. We work with a wide range of external stakeholders and seek to influence decision-makers so that we can improve the landscape within which advice services operate and the lives of the people you support. We also speak to the media on your behalf about the issues that matter to advice […]

AdviceUK, the largest network of free and independent advice services, has responded to the Home Office’s “A Fairer Pathway to Settlement” consultation, fundamentally rejecting the proposals, and has urged the Government to drop them. Drawing on the experiences of its members who provide frontline immigration advice, AdviceUK warns that the proposals will increase insecurity and inequality for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers and their […]

On 10 February, AdviceUK, the UK’s largest network of independent advice services, gave oral evidence at the second session of the House of Commons Justice Select Committee’s inquiry into access to justice, drawing on its written evidence and the experiences of AdviceUK’s over 700 members. In the session, Liz Bayram, Chief Executive of AdviceUK, highlighted the crucial role of advice services in ensuring everyone, regardless of means, can access justice, […]

Following a joint feasibility study into the potential for Rightsnet (the UK’s leading social welfare law and access to justice website) and AdviceUK (the largest membership network of independent advice services in the UK) to come together within AdviceUK’s existing group structure to sustain the much-valued services and support that Rightsnet provides for advice services; […]