1. The Benefit Advice Service has been in place at Worklink / pure
innovations from 01/01/2002, Initially employed by the Welfare Rights
service of Stockport Advice & funded by Employment Services
Providing Benefit Advice & support to appeal/tribunal level & beyond.
In context
“Clients were looking for specialist advice from advisors they could trust,
who have the technical knowledge of the benefit system, the ability to
understand the nature of their disability or mental health condition. Take
the whole range of an individual’s circumstances into account & provide
authoritative & credible advice.
The perception of the participants was that this support was not available
from the Benefits Agency…(similarly it was felt that the CAB & other
agencies are not 100% reliable) ”
Witton, D. Communicating Welfare benefits (2002)
As a project can provide assistance with;
We aim to provide a one stop shop for our clients. This is because the process of
dealing with complex financial issues, interrelated benefits & numerous agencies
can be stressful & invites errors. Having a trusted advisor who knows the client
well & understands the individual issues affecting them, Whom the clients see to
get assistance with issues affecting them builds trust & helps to motivate the
client to seek out & maintain employment.
The benefit Advisory Service provides the following
• Advice & assistance to Maximise clients income
• Debt Advice to help clients who`s finances are a barrier to seeking work
• Benefit Advice, assistance claiming benefits
• Help & Assistance claiming in work benefits including tax credits
• Providing Advice to Employment Advisors Clients& Interested parties
• Better off calculations, these provide an invaluable guide to clients
uncertain of how taking up employment will affect their finances
• Advice and ongoing support to clients considering self employment
• Ongoing support & monitoring
• On site advice to employees
• Help Managing household budgets & bills
• Assistance reclaiming benefits if the employment is not maintained.
Reclaiming benefits after employment can be a very stressful experience,
we aim to minimise the disruption to the client so they are not put off
considering employment in the future.

2. • We provide assistance & advice claiming benefits/credits including:
– Attendance Allowance
– Disability Living Allowance
– Income Support
– Job Seekers Allowance
– Bereavement Benefits
– Incapacity
– Carer’s Allowance
– Housing And Council Tax Benefit
– Social Fund, Crisis loans, Community Care Grants
– Working Tax Credit
– Job Grants, Extended Payments
Disincentives
The service has identified the following disincentives to considering starting paid
work
Fear & Uncertainty
Fear that these activities such as part time or voluntary work can trigger loss of
benefits. Loss of financial security, a medical review process. They may fear that
they could be found capable of work before they feel ready to cope with an
ordinary job.
Lack of access to expert, independent benefits advice
They may not trust the advisors at the job centre to take account of their overall
needs & do not trust support workers to have up to date Information.
On going support whilst in employment
Clients once in work may need additional support to help maintain employment &
resolve new issues. Paying bills, prepare household budgets making
arrangements to pay creditors.
The service aims to remove all these disincentives so our clients can concentrate
on seeking & maintaining employment.
Knowledge of the working tax credit system helps to prevent common pitfalls that
frequently lead to overpayments of working tax credits. An overpayment of
working tax credit is likely to distress the claimant and is seen as a punishment.

3. In addition we frequently help clients challenge overpayments. The majority of
overpayments have been to errors on behalf of the Working Tax credit team.
Without the involvement of an advisor the client would have accepted the
overpayment & would have suffered financial hardship.
Project Aims
Putting the client first
Widening choice and access,
Empowering advisors to deliver a higher quality of service
Streamlining the employment process.
Bring together local government services & related agencies, Sign posting
Increasing take-up of unclaimed benefits
Value of the project
The Project has the potential to:
Significantly improve the chances of our clients considering taking up paid work.
Improve chances of maintaining paid work,
Help with external pressures & issues that can affect our clients.
Benefits of In House Advice
Introducing consistent completion of claim forms, different advisors with different
levels of experience will complete forms of varying quality
Improved accuracy of benefit claims, Improved processing times, Reduction in
overpayments
Benefit entitlement checks. Better off calculations
Linking of services within the local authority.

4. Ability to challenge decisions, this is an important issue which is often
overlooked, Advisors at the DWP or Jobcentre plus do not challenge decision
made by official bodies on behalf of the client.
Removal of the fear factor regarding benefits & finances for clients & advisors.
The worry of what if when dealing with complex income details is taken away
We have the ability to stay with client until their issues are resolved.
We provide a One Stop shop for most clients.
Statistics
• Between April 2004 and March 2005
– clients received in excess of 325000 in benefits that would have
been unclaimed or from decisions that would have gone
unchallenged (including Working Tax Credit Overpayments)
• Provided ongoing debt counselling to 9 clients, 7 active cases (1 client
referred to Law centre)
• Provided Housing Advice to 45 clients
• dealt with excess of 750 benefit related client problems.
• 52 decisions at review/reconsideration 40 won (award of benefit made or
increased 12 went to Appeal)
• 12 Appeals 11 won (award of benefit made or increased, Overpayment of
Benefits Written off)
On Initial referral we complete a financial Assessment of our clients situation. We
the Identify any missing entitlement to benefit to maximize the client’s income &
helps the client with any other matters as appropriate.
Doing this when client is just starting with the service (& is on a waiting list) is
beneficial as hopefully client’s issues can be resolved prior to seeking work with
an employment officer
We then prepare better off calculations as required & advice regarding benefits &
starting work. When a client starts work, we prepare written advice to the client
including a better off calculation showing income before & after starting work and
explaining the action we will take & any actions expected of the client.
We write to the relevant agencies to ensure they are aware of the change to our
clients circumstances & ensure the relevant forms are completed.
We will then prepare a better off based on offer of employment & follow up clients
case to check Working tax credits Housing benefits etc are correct