Our policy work

We undertake our policy work in a variety of ways.

We work closely with our members to understand the issues that are affecting them and their clients.

We use data to evidence this. We work with a wide range of external stakeholders and seek to influence decision-makers so that we can improve the landscape within which our members operate and improve the lives of the people they support.

We represent AdviceUK and the interests of our members and their clients by sitting on a wide range of committees and working groups. We raise the profile of our policy work by speaking at events and through the media.

AdviceUK Consultation Response – Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)

The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) regulates the provision of immigration advice and services throughout the UK, registering organisations and immigration advisers. At present, no registration fees are paid by non-fee charging organisations.

118 AdviceUK member organisations are currently regulated by the OISC. The vast majority make no charges for the advice they give, with just 12 organisations making charges for some provision, usually low-cost fixed fee services set up to cover gaps left by cuts to legal aid.

Between 14 March and 5 June 2024, the OISC, together with the Home Office, consulted on the following proposals:

• Charging both organisations and individual advisers for registration.
• Charging both organisations and individual advisers in the non-fee charging sector, including charity-based services.
• Making it possible to introduce additional charges for different types of regulatory activity.

AdviceUK has responded to highlight:

• The significant financial pressures facing AdviceUK members giving immigration advice, with reduced public sector spending, increased competition for limited grant funding, and ongoing cost of living pressures.
• The negative impact these proposals are likely to have on the numbers of organisations able to sustain immigration advice services, particularly smaller, community-based organisations.
• The negative impact these proposals are likely to have on the advice sector workforce, where AdviceUK members tell us that it is increasingly difficult to recruit and retain suitably qualified staff.
• The positive opportunities there are for the OISC to work with the not-for-profit advice sector, and how different approaches could be found to reducing the costs of regulation and improving its effectiveness.

The OISC will be publishing its response to the consultation, alongside any changes to the fee structure in due course. AdviceUK has indicated that it is willing to share further evidence with the OISC.

If you would like to contact us about this work, or share your own views or responses to this consultation, please contact Influencing via our Contact Us page.

AdviceUK Consultation Response – Review of the Personal Insolvency Framework

AdviceUK welcomed the call for evidence on the personal insolvency framework. There have been major societal and economic changes in the UK since the introduction of the Insolvency Act in 1986 and, as a result, we believe that significant changes are needed in the area of personal insolvency. You can read our response to the consultation here:

ADVICEUK CONSULTATION RESPONSE

Designing and funding advice services – 10 key principles

Advice has a vital role in improving access to justice for millions of people. To enable the advice sector to meet the advice needs of people and communities in England, Scotland and Wales, AdviceUK believes that it is important that a set of ten key principles are taken into account and followed by decision-makers, policymakers and funders.

AdviceUK Consultation Response – Statutory Debt Repayment Plan

AdviceUK has responded to the Government’s consultation on a proposed Statutory Debt Repayment Plan. We think that the proposal will benefit very few people and raises a number of concerns. In our view, the Government should wait for the outcome of the call for evidence on personal insolvency and in the meantime focus on measures that will address the cost of living crisis. You can read our response to the consultation here:

ADVICEUK CONSULTATION RESPONSE