Advice NI Training calendar January - June 2012

For booking or more information please conact training@adviceni.net

Advice NI Training calendar January - June 2012

For booking or more information please conact training@adviceni.net

Advice NI Training brochure January - June 2012

For booking or more information please conact training@adviceni.net

Advice NI Annual Report 2010/11

Membership Profile Report 2010/11

Advice NI has highlighted major changes to contribution based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) time limits proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill 2011 which will impact upon people currently in receipt of Incapacity Benefit.

The Debt Management Guidance is a useful practical resource for Advice NI debt advisers and provides an objective basis for the OFT to assess whether lenders/brokers and Debt Management Firms are behaving unfairly. The guidance is routinely used by advisers either as part of their negotiations on behalf of customers or as a self-help tool to empower people in resolving their own debt problems. The revised guidance is indeed an improvement on the previous guidance and we hope that more subscribers adhere to the principles and apply them in practice.

This draft policy is primarily targeted at the commissioners of health and social care services in Northern Ireland i.e. the HSC Board, the PHA, LCGs and the five HSC Trusts.The draft policy aims to clarify and help improve understanding of what advocacy is and its role in the health and social care context (sections 5 and 6). It also aims to provide some practical guidance on the commissioning of advocacy services, including the setting of principles and standards to underpin this (section 7). In addition, guidance is provided on how advocacy services can be supported and monitored (sections 8 and 9), two key factors in ensuring the provision of high quality, effective advocacy services in the future.

The award winning Advantage Training is now open for bookings for the September to December courses.

Advice NI advisers and clients have become increasingly concerned and confused about the future of cheques. This Paper seeks to provide clarification on the issue.

Advice NI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Draft OFT guidance for creditors, debt collectors, law firms and other businesses engaged in recovery of consumer credit debts. Section 1 includes background information on Advice NI and a general overview. Section 2 includes our response to consultation questions within the draft guidance.

Advice NI welcomes the review of Gambling Regulation in NI, particularly given the increased accessibility to such activity as a result of technological advancements. We also welcome recognition of the importance of ‘striking a balance between developing gambling as a legitimate leisure pursuit and minimising its potential negative consequences.’ Advice NI acknowledges the significant benefits of the gambling industry to the economy through tourism, investment and so on but equally if not more important is the need to protect young people and vulnerable people who may be at risk of turning to gambling as a means of thrill-seeking, of trying to deal with their debts or as an alternative to managing their debt effectively and save for the future.

It is in the context of increased demand for advice services and increased workloads that Advice NI calls upon political parties to prioritise advice services and ensure they are adequately funded to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

 Advice NI is delighted to introduce you to a piece of work and accompanying report ‘The big idea: putting people first’ which we believe has the potential to transform frontline services, boost staff morale and maximise returns on investment in this era of cuts and efficiencies.

Advice NI welcomed the opportunity to respond to the guidance provided by the DSD to support Councils in the resourcing of local voluntary advice. We also welcomed the efforts by the Department to keep the Opening Doors Strategy alive and in recognising the existing quality standards within the voluntary advice sector as evidenced in Appendix B of the consultation document.

Advice NI noted the references made to the ‘Working Together for Advice Project (WTAP)’ and made the point that this was a project that was developed over a period of time with significant funds from the Lottery. The point was made that it was perhaps unrealistic to expect similar developments or implantation of guidance without the appropriate resources.

Advice NI raised a number of issues in relation to the DLA reform consultation including a difficulty in accepting that Government is genuinely interested in ‘protecting’ people with disabilities and those people with work limiting health conditions who are reliant upon the benefits system, and Disability Living Allowance in particular, when one considers the raft of welfare cuts that have been proposed as a result of the June and October announcements.

Advice NI also highlighted the Budget 2010 Policy costings document which stated (in relation to DLA reform):

 “Drawing on the evidence of the impact of the WCA, the central assumption for this policy is that it will result in a 20 per cent reduction in caseload and expenditure once fully rolled out.”

Advice NI has made a comprehensive response to the draft Budget as part of the Executive's consultation process. The response examines a number of issues including the increased demand for advice services and increased workloads; and Advice NI’s position that we see the protection of the most vulnerable low income households as being our primary concern.

Advice NI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation paper on Managing, Borrowing and Dealing with Debt – Call for evidence in support of the Consumer Credit and Personal Insolvency Review.

Wiseradviser money advice courses and blended learning January - December 2011

Advice NI's AGM took place on 26th November 2010

This Membership Profile Report highlights the record number of enquiries dealt with by Advice NI members in 2010.

Advantage Training Events September - December 2011

 The Advice NI response draws attention to a number of issues including: 

 Proposals in the consultation paper appear to focus on a Universal Credit which would be delivered through a new system which would use up-to-date earnings information from employers to calculate Universal Credit on a household basis. This might imply that HMRC will take over the administration of the Universal Credit. Advice NI would have real concerns about the capability of HMRC to administer a system which would be relied upon by all working age people, families and children.

In the current economic crisis advisers and statistics are indicating that many homeowners in Northern Ireland are struggling to pay mortgage bills and make ends meet. The Council of Mortgage Lenders has estimated there will be 39,000 house repossessions in the UK in 2010.

In the first half of 2010 statistics reveal that there were 340 actual re-possessions in Northern Ireland. Based on this worrying trend we would nticipate there will a much higher level of repossessions for 2010, than the previous year. Advice NI is seeing this increase through the rising number of housing enquiries to independent advice centres and a rising number of people in financial difficulties.

In order for the Voluntary Legal Advice Sector to contribute to the delivery of the Opening Doors strategy (DSD, 2007), the Advice Services Alliance (ASA) Training Working Group produced a skills base report, and it is in response to this that they have commissioned Skills for Justice to deliver this piece of research, analysing training provision and the extent to which training relates to the National Occupational Standards (NOS).

The findings show that current training provision is not, to a large extent, based on NOS, although respondents were able to see that this could be achieved. It is recommended that further work is undertaken to progress this as embedding the NOS in training, along with robust assessment processes, is the key to ensuring best practice and ultimately enabling the accreditation of learning in the future.

A review of the voluntary Lending Code was launched in June to ensure it offers consumers up-to-date protection.

The code, which covers personal loans, credit cards and overdrafts, was introduced in November last year when new rules from the Financial Services Authority covering banking came into force.

Advice NI regards the lending Code as a pivotal tool within the Advice NI membership, as it outlines recommended creditor good practice, and is routinely used by advisers either as part of their negotiations on behalf of customers or as a self-help tool to empower people in resolving their own debt problems. It is also a helpful tool for advisers when communicating with the Financial Ombudsman Service.

However from the experience of advisers some subscribers do not put the Code’s requirements into practice, particularly in relation to section 9 of the lending code which looks at dealing with customers in financial difficulty.  Given the current economic climate the need to improve the practice lending code has never been greater.

A revised code will be published in March 2011 following the review.

The Utility Regulator recently published a new report Research on Helping Customers to Avoid Debt and Manage Their Way Out of Debt, which is the product of an extensive research project on the subject of energy customer debt in Northern Ireland. The report outlines the findings from the research and makes recommendations for a code of practice for energy suppliers on dealing with customer debt and helping customers to avoid debt or manage their way out of debt.

The report has been independently produced by Social Market Research in partnership with the Social Research Centre and Advice NI. Please note that the recommendations contained within the report represent the views of the Social Market Research and are not necessarily those of the Utility Regulator.

Details on the background and next steps to this research.

Advice NI response to the NI Assembly call for evidence on the Welfare Reform Bill 2010

Advantage Training Events September - December 2010

Advantage - Accredited Training on Age Issues

Training events - January - May 2010

Wiseradviser training and support for money advisers: Courses and blended learning January - December 2010

• Advice NI wins Aontas Star award


• Law Centre launches encyclopaedia


• Advice NI welcomes new members


• Financial Ombudsman awareness event


• Benefit & Policy News


• Up and coming training and events


• School Uniform policy triumph

Research was carried out as part of the needs analysis process of Older Person's Adviser Course to help inform its content and delivery prior to development. The main aim of the research was to identify 6 topic areas for inclusion in the course based on the training needs of those working with older people and the welfare needs of older people themselves. Information to advise the accreditation pathway and shape of the course was also sought. The research was conducted during August and September of 2008.

Advice NI Annual Report 2008

Membership ProfileReport highlights the essential services provided by our membership targeting need as it exists within deprived geographical areas and
within particular social groups across Northern Ireland.

Advice NI undertook research as part of the needs analysis process of the Older Person Adviser Course to help inform its content and delivery prior to development. The main aim of the research was to identify 6 topic areas for inclusion in the course based on the training needs of those working with older people and the welfare needs of older people themselves. Information to advise the accreditation pathway and shape of the course was also sought. The research was conducted during August and September of 2008.

At a time of increasing uncertainty facing many households across Northern Ireland; with unemployment levels rising; with increasing numbers of people accessing services of the Social Security Agency (SSA) and increasing numbers of people accessing services of advice agencies (particularly debt and money advice services), Advice NI members are reporting major issues on two fronts:

1. social security agency-related workload


2. difficulties  responding to increased demand.

Helping Migrant Workers get Financial Support
E-Quals Project Highly Commended
Benefit Uptake News
HRS Launch New Housing Manual
Social Policy

Membership Profile Report highlights the essential services provided by our membership targeting need as it exists within deprived geographical areas and
within particular social groups across Northern Ireland.