Citizens Advice Bureau, Annual General Meeting - 16 October 2008

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

I’m very pleased to be able to join you today at your Annual General Meeting.

The last year has brought great global change and today we face a very difficult financial climate.  Rising energy costs, rising food costs and the well documented credit crunch have had an enormous knock on effect on everyone.  Last week I read in the paper that the price of second hand Ferraris in London has dropped by a half over the last month – obviously a few investment bankers in London are beginning to feel the pinch.  Hardship, of course, is relative.  And we all know, that, as always, it will be the most vulnerable and disadvantaged within society who are worst affected.

Protecting these groups is the mainstream business of DSD and also of Citizens Advice Bureaux and the current economic climate certainly throws into relief the seriousness and value of this work.  

CAB is doubtless experiencing increased demand for its services.  

In my Department I am asking two questions, and I think that CAB will be doing the same with regard to its own business and also as a key policy influencer.

Firstly, how do we protect the vulnerable at this difficult time?

And second, thinking ahead, how can we ensure that in the future fewer people are in a vulnerable position?

I’d like to begin today by answering that first question:  how do we protect the vulnerable at this difficult time?  Those, for example, at risk of fuel poverty; those whose tight budgets are being stretched by rising food and fuel costs; or those who may be in danger of losing their house.  

Local politicians stand accused of doing very little to help these people – I know the Northern Irish public is increasingly bemused and disappointed by the failure of the Executive to react to this crisis, as other national governments are now doing.  I am not going to get involved in assigning blame for the Executive deadlock – it simply needs to meet – but I’d like to be very clear today that my priority in DSD is providing help and support to all those put at risk by the current economic climate.  

These days, rising fuel costs provide many headlines in Northern Ireland newspapers.  I have already indicated my intention to push ahead with recommendations for tackling Fuel Poverty and circulated a draft paper on the subject to Executive colleagues a few weeks ago.  To make a difference this winter, the actual work needs to start now.

In light of the Executive not meeting, I have now been forced to bring forward my fuel recommendations under Urgent Procedure.  Of course, this package of proposals has implications for several Ministers and Departments.  We need to approach the Treasury and we need to press the energy companies for a contribution – as an Executive.  In the meantime, however, I am doing all I can to address the Fuel Poverty issue using Urgent Procedure.

The Social Security Agency has recently commenced an advertising campaign to increase awareness of the Winter Fuel Payment, available to people aged 60 and over, for newly eligible customers.  

The first series of adverts were published in the daily press in August, with further press coverage planned in November.  

With the increasing cost of fuel, there is no doubt that some older people may have difficulty budgeting this year.  I want to make sure that people can afford to heat their homes this winter.  

Benefit uptake is one of the key priorities for the Social Security Agency – experience has taught us that sometimes we have to reach out to members of the public to make sure they receive all they’re entitled to.

Since 2005 a targeted approach has been adopted to increasing benefit uptake which has involved the Social Security Agency working with the Citizens Advice Bureaux to offer vulnerable clients a comprehensive assessment of all benefit entitlement.  

This has generated an additional £15 million in benefit – no small sum, I think you’ll agree.  

To achieve that level of success we had to completely rethink how we engaged with our customers.  

Building on this success I launched the 2008/9 Benefit Uptake Programme in May 2008.  This programme will target some of the most vulnerable groups in our society:  older people, people with a disability and families.  A total of 115,000 people across Northern Ireland will be contacted to make sure they are not missing out on benefits.  Less than six months into this programme over 90,000 people have been written to.  Analysis already shows that 689 people have been awarded State Pension Credit at an average of more than £46 per week.  This is equivalent to over £1.5 million per year of extra benefit.

I’d like to take this opportunity to personally thank the Citizens Advice Bureaux, and its staff and volunteers, for the excellent work carried out in relation to Benefit Uptake.  

Many of these people are in hard to reach groups and through working in partnership we have been successful in raising awareness of benefit entitlement.

Many of you will be aware that since taking up responsibility for the Department for Social Development I have made housing my key priority – everyone is entitled to a roof over their head.  The combined weakening of the housing market and the credit squeeze is creating difficulties for home owners and I now plan to introduce a ‘Mortgage to Rent’ scheme for those who can no longer afford to own their home.  Eligible homes will be purchased by a Housing Association who will rent them back to their former owners, offering long term security both in terms of affordability and lease.

For those who are struggling to meet the full mortgage on their property, I will bring forward a scheme similar to co-ownership, only in reverse.

I will allow Housing Associations to buy a stake in the home and convert that stake to an affordable rent, allowing the family to retain some form of ownership in their home with the prospect to buy it all back if and when their circumstances permit.

But this is just one aspect of what our Mortgage Rescue Scheme will seek to deliver.  For those who fall behind in their mortgage, the best and by far the easiest way to avoid a repossession order is to seek help and get advice sooner rather than later.  The earlier advice is sought, the more solutions there can be.

That is why I will be insisting that all applicants for our Mortgage Rescue Scheme must seek specialist advice that is already offered freely across a range of advice providers here.  And I intend to help with ensuring that the very best advice and support is available.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me assure you that I will continue push forward these practical steps, because I believe they will make a real difference in people’s lives at a very difficult time.   

I’d like to remind you now of my second question, how can we ensure that in the future fewer people are in a vulnerable position?  

The efficiency, or value for money, agenda is no longer a new idea.  But in these belt-tightening times, with constraints faced around public expenditure, the idea of getting the most out of every tax pound spent has never been more relevant.

The government reform agenda pushes us not only to achieve efficiency but also to provide services which are effective, high quality and targeted at the point of most need.  

With these considerations in mind, the Child Support Agency has now been reformed and brought into the Department as the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division and I will soon be announcing changes to the Social Security Agency under the Strategic Business Review.  

Government is also reforming benefit; the new Employment Support Allowance goes live on 27 October.  ESA will replace Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new customers. It will actively provide incentives and support for people to prepare to return to work when they are fit to do so.  

The Government Green Paper, Reforming Welfare to Reward Responsibility, currently out for consultation, proposes to take us further along this same road: more support in exchange for more responsibility.  I know that the Citizens Advice Bureaux will be following this policy area closely.

I believe that finding the right sort of work and becoming self-reliant can have a positive effect on health and well-being; it can give people the great satisfaction of providing for themselves and their family.  It’s also one of the most valuable tools we know of for lifting people out of poverty and keeping people out of poverty.  And of course, with more people in employment and fewer people on benefit, the wider community also stands to benefit: from a better-skilled workforce, from a more buoyant economy, from more resources directed to improving and simplifying public services.   

The advice sector will also have to be open to change and reform.  My Department is buying outcomes for the public and it needs to see advice services which are open, welcoming, responsive and accessible both in terms of physical access and in terms of access by phone, web based information and e-mail.

In all likelihood, the new Councils from 2011 will tender for advice provision and award contracts.  These may stipulate service delivery requirements around good quality advice, training, governance and financial management.  The Voluntary Sector will need to be able to adapt to the changes ahead such as the implementation of RPA and be ready to consolidate provision in order to create an enhanced and improved service to the public.

Last year my Department made a significant contribution of almost £2 million to front line advice provision and over £1.5 to regional offices in core funding.  In the current financial climate it is unlikely that this will increase and there may even be the prospect of a smaller pot of money.  However, we can work together to consider how we can use the money more efficiently, make sure we reduce duplication and think about ways of releasing funding to front line services.

I launched The Advice Strategy Opening Doors last year.  It aims to make best use of existing resources and reduce the possibility of duplication of services.  This Strategy is to ensure that good quality generalist advice is available throughout Northern Ireland.

I consider good quality advice within the voluntary sector to be extremely important as it can make a huge difference to people’s lives.  As a local MLA, I get a lot of feedback within my constituency office and I am well aware of the hardships many people are facing.  

It is our duty both in Government and within the Voluntary Sector to ensure that we work together to provide the best service possible.  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Advice Services Alliance for their ongoing work in relation to quality – I’m sure that ultimately this will ensure high standards in advice for everyone.

Northern Ireland is in fact the only area within the UK that has developed a Strategy for Voluntary Advice Services.  Since David Hanson’s announcement in 2006 on the advice strategy I have secured an additional £1 million per year of ring fenced money specifically for advice.

I intend to launch the public consultation on hub and satellite proposed locations for the Opening Doors Strategy during the autumn.  When this is completed and the resulting information analysed my officials will be working closely with the Council to test implementation possibilities.

My officials have set up a Government Advice and Information Group which is made up of representatives of many Government Departments who have an interest in the voluntary advice sector.  Their role is to monitor the success of the Strategy and to monitor and advise throughout the process. This is a time when partnership working is of the utmost importance and I would encourage you to consider how you can improve relationships with other advice organisations.  The merger between Help the Aged and Age Concern was forward thinking and could be held up as a model for the future.

Before I finish, I’d like to pay homage to the significant number of volunteers involved in the Citizens Advice Bureaux.  I understand the commitment of time this requires and I would like to thank all of you who have been so generous in your goal of providing help to others.  I intend to release a new Volunteering Strategy in the autumn which aims to promote exactly this sort of active citizenship and social responsibility.

Ladies and gentlemen, all too often we can get caught up in our daily business and the organisations in which we work – sometimes losing track of what we are trying to achieve.  One of the few virtues of the current economic climate is the spotlight it has thrown on the vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society, particularly those living precariously on the edge of poverty.  I believe that now more than ever we need a good quality, reliable, independent advice service.  

My Department is taking a number of important steps to ensure that the most vulnerable in society are protected, today and in the future: however, Citizens Advice Bureaux also has a vital role to play – those of you who work in the front line will know yourselves just how much difference you can make in the life of an individual customer, whether it is financial or personal.  

I am committed to working with statutory, voluntary and community sector representatives to ensure that the Opening Doors strategy is delivered because when it is in place it will do so much to underpin the sustainability of the sector and the vital service it provides  

At the start I posed two questions –

I think the answer lies in the fact that we are partners in the resolution of them and it is only by working together we can make a real difference in people’s lives.

Thank you.