No images? Click here Inform & Advise IntroductionHi all This is the first issue of Inform & Advise for about 4 weeks due to my period of furlough. Things do seem to be settling down a bit now, so there is not the need to produce editions of Inform & Advise quite as frequently as we have been, so far during the pandemic. We’re not going to return to the regular monthly production of Inform & Advise just yet. We will be producing editions at least once a month but they may be more frequent if required. The TASO (Technical Advice Support Officer) team are also looking to return to something more like normal with their briefings. The dedicated COVID-19 briefings will be updated when required but the TASOs will also be producing their regular monthly briefings on Benefits, Housing & Energy, Social Care and Health & Care. These will be posted in the Essential Adviser Briefings & Guidance section of the I&A pages on the Loop. The dedicated COVID-19 briefings will be posted on both the loop and Age UK COVID-19 online hub in the dedicated I&A hub. The I&A Development Adviser team are taking advantage of the changes to the Government’s furlough scheme to change the arrangements of our furloughing. From now on we will each be working for 3 days a week. Mark Tomlinson; the Development Adviser for the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside, the East Midlands, the Eastern region and Scotland, will be working Monday to Wednesday. Mark Norris; the Development Adviser for the North West, the West Midlands and Wales, will be working Tuesday to Thursday. Janice Davis; the Development Adviser for the South East, the South West, London and Northern Ireland, will be working Wednesday to Friday. The previously mentioned guidance on advisers using online welfare benefit claims processes will be published within the next couple of weeks. It has been delayed a little by my period of furlough but we now have confirmation from our Professional Indemnity insurers that they are willing to insure this type of work if the guidance produced by Age UK (national) is followed. Mark Tomlinson, Senior I&A Development Adviser Please note: some items in the Briefings are not relevant for partners in Wales; these are marked up in the Briefings. In this issue
Updated resources for advisersWe have continued to update the template responses to common Coronavirus queries and since the last issue of Inform and Advise on the 9th of June we have:
To view the templates visit our wiki. On the first screen of the wiki, under “SPACES” select “Age UK Advice” and then under “PAGE TREE” select “Coronavirus – template responses”. NB: if you get a bit lost in the menus (which is easy to do) click on the Age UK logo in the top left and this will take you back to the first screen. Liam has updated the ‘COVID-19 Benefits briefing’ to include:
David has updated the ‘Changes to the Care Act 2014 under the Coronavirus Act 2020’ briefing to include:
Lottie has updated ‘COVID-19 Housing and energy updates’ to include:
The TASO COVID-19 briefings are also available on the Age UK COVID-19 online hub in the dedicated I&A hub. New guidance for advisers on I&A delivery during the current pandemicWe have been busy at Age UK producing guidance for local Age UKs that are considering reinstating home visits or face-to-face appointments in their offices or at outreach venues. As lock-down is beginning to ease, we know some partners are starting to consider how they can safely resume face-to-face I&A services – either through home visits or in a venue. If your organisation has identified an essential need to deliver any of your I&A service face-to-face you can view our I&A face-to-face risk assessment here and Age UK’s more general guidance on operating services safely can be found here. As the only truly safe way to deliver your I&A service at this time is to continue remote delivery (by phone or video call), we’ve also developed further guidance to assist you with this. On our Age UK Coronavirus I&A Hub and the loop you can find:
I&A enquiry code reporting deadline for quarter one of 2020/21A huge thank you to those of you whose I&A teams were able to send in your enquiry code and benefits figures for the last quarter. 104 of you managed to find time amongst all the upheaval to do this and we’re really grateful that you could. We know things are still busy for you and you’re having to work very differently, but we’re hoping that your I&A teams will be able to make time again to send in your next set of enquiry code and benefits figures. Please can you email your reports, covering Q1, to AdviceUnit@ageuk.org.uk by 5pm on Friday 17 July. Please click here for more details on how to do this. Control what you get from Age UK communicationsSign up: You can subscribe to newsletters for local Age UKs using our online sign-up. Control what you receive: You can update your existing subscription and details online. Unsubscribe: To unsubscribe, please email signpost@ageuk.org.uk. If you click the unsubscribe link in the footer you'll unsubscribe from all Age UK newsletters. |