Inform & Advise

Introduction

Hi all

Welcome to the March 2021 edition of the Inform and Advise newsletter for local Age UKs/Cymrus.  As well as the usual TASO briefings and resources updates, this month’s edition includes an article about Silver Connects, a national telephone service delivered by volunteers, which supports I&A delivery (whilst not delivering advice itself), and also an article about ‘Settled’, an organisation that helps EU citizens to apply for settled status in the UK.

Responsibility for pulling together this newsletter has passed from Mark Tomlinson and Gill Pasgali, to myself and Catherine Howard in the Business Support Team at Age UK, but contact details remain the same – please use the adviceunit@ageuk.org.uk address if you need to contact us.  Thanks to Mark and Gill for all their hard work on Inform & Advise over the years.  They are still with Age UK, but busy with other work.

John Edwards, Head of I&A Strategy

If you have any questions about this bulletin, please contact Age UK on adviceunit@ageuk.org.uk

Please note: some items in the Briefings are not relevant for partners in Wales; these are marked up in the Briefings.

Updated resources for advisers 

TASO Briefings

This month’s Benefits briefing, produced by Liam Bradford, Technical Advice Support Officer – Money & Benefits, includes information about the closure of the Post Office Card Account scheme and changes to Support for Mortgage Interest.

March’s Housing briefing, produced by Lottie Beauchamp, Technical Advice Support Officer – Housing, includes reference to a further extension on the ban on bailiff evictions and a new standard tenancy agreement to help renters with pets.

This month’s Health and Care briefing, produced by David Broome, Technical Advice Support Officer – Social Care and Sheelagh Donovan, Technical Advice Support Officer – Health & End of Life, includes information about social care charging thresholds remaining at 20/21 levels in 21/22 and increases in NHS dental charges.

Email Enquiry Service – March 2021 arrangements

The Age UK Email Enquiry Service will be closed for new email enquiries from 1pm on Wednesday 24 March 2021 (except for housing queries which close from 5pm on Friday 19 March 2021). This is due to the current and on-going furlough arrangements across Age UK.

The service will re-open for email enquiries from Tuesday 6 April 2021. Any email enquiries received between 24 March and 6 April will not be responded to within this period and we will endeavour to provide responses subsequently as resources permit – however, we will not be able to guarantee our normal 5-day working response timescales if we have received a high volume of enquiries whilst the service is suspended.

The mailbox will not be monitored during the period of suspension, so please do try and avoid sending any enquiries, even urgent ones, as they will not receive any response until we return to work in April. We understand this isn’t ideal but we must take this action for the moment.

Thanks very much for your understanding and we look forward to hearing from you.

Paul Treloar, Senior Technical Advice Manager

An issue with LPA Digital Summaries

Advisers that have attended recent I&A Consent training or have read previous articles in Inform & Advise will be aware of the online accounts that became available for Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) registered since the 17th of July 2020.  One of the functions of the online account was a digital summary of the LPA form which could be viewed by organisations that the attorney has contacted on the donor’s behalf.  We have just been informed that unfortunately the digital summary does not include details of any limitations placed on the attorney by the donor.  The result of this is that Age UKs will still need to see the registered paper LPA form (or a copy of it) before they can undertake any advice work with an attorney.  It is hoped that the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) will soon rectify this oversight in the digital summary.  Thank you to Alicia-Mae Hussell of Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire for informing us of this.  You can find out more about the online accounts for LPAs here.

The Silver Connects Service

Silver Connects is a national service, delivered by volunteers, which provides telephone-based support to older people, to help them gain access to the services and activities that could benefit them​.  It was set up by the Silver Line in 2015 to support Silver Line Helpline callers who had a need for additional support. ​Now that the Silver Line has merged with Age UK, we are developing the Silver Connects service so that it fits with and adds to our local and national I&A delivery. 

Silver Connects takes referrals from the Age UK Advice Line or the Silver Line Helpline where callers, who may be particularly vulnerable, need support over the phone to resolve practical issues, and to be connected with local services that can provide them with the support they need. Examples of support provided include:

• finding out about relevant local services
• contacting a service provider to facilitate the older person getting access to the service
• organising transport to a day centre or social activity
• calling a utility company on the older person’s behalf.

The service can, where appropriate, help the older person to enact the advice that they have been given by the Advice Line. The service does not provide advice, or formal advocacy, and it is not a befriending service.  Referrals are taken on to support with specific issues that can be resolved in a short timeframe (normally within a few weeks).  The service is delivered by volunteers, supported by Volunteer Coordinators, and is provided solely over the phone.

​Making a referral to Silver Connects will be a particularly important option for the Advice Line and Silver Line Helpline where their caller lives in an area with no local Age UK.  Where there is a local Age UK, there is no intention to duplicate those services – but a referral to Silver Connects may be made where the client may need support in accessing local Age UK and other services.  In such cases, the Silver Connects volunteer may contact you and discuss if and how they can support you in supporting the client, and what other relevant local services there might be for a client.  It is important that the service complements local Age UK services, and facilitates clients’ access to them. 

Client numbers for the service are low at the moment – about 50 cases per month – but we are planning to grow the service to support around 400 clients a month across the UK, by the end of 2021.  The service can make an important contribution to meeting information and advice needs by supporting older people to access local services (including those of local partners) which can support them.

For further information about the service, please contact connects@ageuk.org.uk

Settled – a new signpost organisation for EU citizens wanting help to apply for Settled Status

Age UK has been contacted by a new charity, called Settled, who can offer advice and support to EU citizens who want to apply for Settled Status. They have produced a leaflet which explains more about this issue and contact details for how to get in touch with them - Settled Leaflet

NOTE – the enclosed consent form in the leaflet is only for use by other third parties – local Age UK I&A advisers must not use this form to assist your clients or offer them advice with applying for Settled Status. This remains a regulated area of advice that you are not authorised to provide.

If you are in any doubt, contact the Age UK Email Enquiry Service on info.team@ageuk.org.uk or speak to your Information and Advice Development Adviser.

Common Enquiry Codes - Q3 thank you, and new templates & guidance for 2021-22

Thank you to those of you who submitted their enquiry codes for quarter 3. We appreciate you doing this, particularly when we are all working in such challenging circumstances.

Many of you will be aware that each year we update the I&A enquiry codes to reflect changes that we think are necessary. You will be pleased to hear that we have made very few changes this year.

The documents you need will be available on the loop early March in the  Tools and Resources Section . Each primary contact we have for your organisation’s I&A service will receive an email to let them know about the changes that have been made along with other information that you may need.

Please remember to make sure that, where possible, two people know how to extract codes from your database. Inevitably, sickness or other reasons may prevent the person who normally sends us the codes from doing so. Because we take submission of the enquiry codes into account when assessing funding applications, it’s important for partners that an alternative arrangement is in place to make sure that one or more quarters aren’t missing enquiry code data.

Popular toolkit for advisors now refreshed and available to view

Originally developed for our holistic advice projects such as Ambitions for Later Life and Later Life Goals, the refreshed and renamed Information and Advice Toolkit gives you the key information about resources (guides, factsheets and web pages) from Age UK and other organisations that can help older people with a wide range of enquiries.

The toolkit is designed to add to the wide range of local knowledge and resources that advisers have. Past feedback has suggested it can be useful to anyone dealing with information and advice and is particularly useful for new starters. Find out more about the toolkit on the loop by clicking the link above.

A reminder to help you deal with any client questions about the 2021 Census

It’s not long now until census day on Sunday 21 March, and people will soon start to receive their packs through the post. The online questionnaire is simple to fill in and is compatible with most assistive technologies such as screen readers.

There is lots of support on offer for everyone who needs it. Anyone not confident filling in their questionnaire online can ask for a paper form by calling the census contact centre on 0800 141 2021 (in England) or 0800 169 2021 (in Wales).  The contact centre is also there to answer questions about the census, and to offer alternative formats – for example, a Large Print questionnaire pack or a braille guidance booklet.

Census Support Centres offering internet access and face-to-face help will be available in local areas when they can open safely.

People can ask a trusted person, such as a friend, family member or carer, for help with their form. If you’re asked to help you can read the questions aloud to them and complete the questionnaire with the answers they give you. You can also post it for them if they can’t get to a post box. 

There is lots more information at www.census.gov.uk/help

After Census Day, Office for National Statistics (ONS) field staff might visit homes to give help and encouragement where people haven’t filled in their forms. They’ll wear ID and won’t ask to come inside or see personal documents.

People can also trust that their information will be safe once they’ve given it to the census. The ONS has a strict security regime that follows government standards.  Published statistics contain no personal information, so individuals can never be identified.

Emily Stidston | Census Community Partnerships Manager

Information and Advice Quality Assessor Part-Time Contract Age UK Croydon

Purpose:  Carry out quality of advice assessment in preparation for IAQP

Salary:   £25 per hour for 30 – 40 hours from March to April 2021 (approximately 6 weeks)

Requirement
Age UK Croydon’s Information and Advice service is preparing for the final stage of the IAQP Quality of Advice Assessment which is due on 5 May 2021.

The Information and Advice Manager left our service in November 2020 and we do not have the skill level in the team for effective quality of advice checking for the team to help us finalise our preparations. The Programmes Director has temporarily taken over the management of the service, while we recruit a new I&A manager, including the Independent File Review process.  She is able to assess case recording elements of the files, but we are looking for an experienced I&A professional to support us with assessing the quality of the diagnosis and advice in the files.

The team consists of one full time Financial Adviser, 2 part time (21 hours per week advisers) and 2 part time (21 and 28 hours respectively) helpline advisers.

We estimate that to complete the level of advice assessments ready for submission to the QAA would take approximately 30 – 40 hours over 6 weeks starting as soon as possible in March. 

If you are interested in this role please email susan.underhill@ageukcroydon.org.uk

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