This report, based on an extensive review of research findings and a detailed study of the activities of one local office in southern England, assesses how the Agency's local offices undertake that role, and their relationships with information and advice agencies, such as citizens advice bureaux

Bryson, A.

Kempson, E.

WestminsterResearch

DEVELOPING THE INFORMATION ROLE OF THE BENEFITSAGENCY AND ITS LOCAL OFFICESBefore considering how the Benefits Agency might develop its information role, it ishelpful to review the needs for information that can occur during the claim process.There is, in fact, a spectrum of different needs that are often lumped together under theumbrella of information and advice.  It was clear from reading the many reports on thepotential information and advice role of local offices that there has been a confusionabout exactly what this encompasses, and exactly what other advice agencies do.Potential claimants need to be alerted to the range of benefits on offer that they might beeligible to claim, and told how they can find out more information.  Essentially this is apublicity  function.Those who wish to consider making a claim need personalised information about theireligibility; the claim process and how much money they might expect to receive.  Theymay also need guidance about other benefits they may be entitled to either in addition toor instead of the benefit they wish to claim.Having made a claim they may need to receive guidance or advice about whether theyare getting the right amount or, if they were refused or assessed for less than theythought, about whether the decision was correct.  They may also need advice andassistance about challenging the decision made by local office staff.In the longer term, claimants may need advice on the implications of subsequentchanges to their circumstances and benefit entitlement and assistance or an advocate ifthere are problems with their benefit payments.At either end of the spectrum there can be little doubt about the most appropriate rolefor the Benefits Agency.  It has a clear responsibility for publicising benefits and, as theFramework Document governing the Agency’s operation explains, to provide comprehensive information to the public on social security benefits,in accordance with guidance from the Secretary of State, so that they areinformed about their entitlements and enabled to claim and receive benefits...Much of this work is best carried out nationally, although there is a clear role for localinitiatives.  Recent years have seen an increase in outreach work by information officersbased in local offices.  Similarly, there can be no doubt that Benefits Agency staff cannot assist or act asadvocates for claimants who feel they have not had their claims handled appropriately.Just as those who are self-employed will employ an accountant to handle their dealingswith the Inland Revenue, benefit claimants may wish to consult an independent adviserInformation and advcice about benefits 21in a CAB, law centre or other advice agency about their social security claims.  It is themiddle ground of information, guidance and advice that is less clear.Beveridge envisaged that:There should be, in every local social security office, an advice bureau towhich every person in doubt or difficulty can be referred and which will beable to tell him, not only about all the official provision for social security, butalso about all the other organisations -- official, semi-official and voluntary,central or local -- which may be able to help him in his difficulty. This recommendation has been taken up by a number of official reports since.   Areview of public caller offices identified the need for a national policy for offeringinformation and advice to claimants.  This, it was suggested, should involverestructuring the existing caller office network to provide:u a full-time advice centre, in attractive accessible offices, in each large town;u mobile centres offering similar, but part-time, advice services in smaller towns;u benefit clinics or surgeries, backed up with freephone services, in rural areas(Earley 1987).Others have felt that the Department’s remit allowed them to provide information andguidance but could not extend to giving advice to claimants. The DHSS Working Partyon Local Office Callers and Structure was of this view.  They reported that the publicwere demanding:local, face-to-face contact and service which is speedy, reliable, helpful andfriendly... advice as well as information... [but] it would be imprudent (even ifit were possible) for the Department to move significantly beyond supplyingthe relevant information and or guidance.  Rules change, people’scircumstances alter, and well-intentioned advice can all too often ‘backfire’(DHSS 1984).The National Audit Office reached a roughly similar conclusion several years later.  Itbelieved that, although the Department was committed to the provision ofcomprehensive, accurate and comprehensible information about benefit entitlement,social security legislation put the onus of claiming on the individual.  So that if staff in alocal office were to advise a claimant to take one course of action rather than another‘serious legal issues’ might be raised (National Audit Office 1988).The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee also accepted the DSS’sinterpretation of legislation that it was for the individual to decide whether or not toclaim a social security benefit.  But the Committee stated that they:22 Information and advcice about benefits...firmly believe that Parliament intended that individuals’ decisions should bebased on the best possible information.  We therefore consider it essential thatclaimants and potential claimants ... are fully aware of the benefits for whichthey are eligible.  They should know how to claim those benefits and shouldnot be put off by the image of the claim process itself.  We note that localoffices have a vital part to play in discharging the Department’s role ofproviding adequate information and advice ... but we are not satisfied that alloffices are adequately fulfilling the Department’s role (Committee of PublicAccounts 1988).Regardless of the legal issues, there were practical constraints on the work that could beundertaken in local offices.  Advising claimants took considerable time and requiredexperienced and trained staff (Elford 1989, Moodie and others 1988).  Local office staffin our case study agreed that these were still real constraints.  They saw informationprovision as the ‘Cinderella’ service that tended to be squeezed out in order to meetspecific service delivery targets.  The Regional Organisation Scrutiny team also notedthat local staff thought that many claimants went to outside agencies because they couldbe sure of a private, face-to-face discussion in a sympathetic, unhurried environment,‘in stark contrast to what many have come to expect when they come to our localoffices’ (Moodie and others 1988).  So far we have only considered meeting needs through passive information services.There were also latent information needs that would never be identified by such passiveservices.  It is here that other advisers, both the formal advice agencies and informaladvisers, have a clear role to play.  They are in a position, in the course of assistingpeople with other problems or areas of their lives, to identify people who have failed toclaim benefits to which they were entitled.  The Benefits Agency role would be toprovide information and support to the agencies concerned, especially to professionalswho advise on benefits as an incidental part of their job and part-time local advicepoints staffed by volunteers (Perkins Roberts and Moore 1992).The evidence seemed to suggest that, far from advice centres having usurped theinformation role of local social security offices, there were still unmet needs forinformation and guidance to claimants, especially about eligibility.  The way in whichwork was organised in Benefits Agency local offices meant that these needs could noteasily be met.The basic philosophy of the Benefits Agency offers a clear opportunity for local officesto develop for themselves the most appropriate information role to meet the needs intheir locality.  In doing so they need to take into account other information and adviceresources within the communities they serve and seek to strengthen and complementthem where appropriate.  But this needs to take place within an overall informationstrategy and a detailed understanding of the roles played by other advice centres.Information and advcice about benefits 23

Information and Advice about Benefits

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Information and Advice about Benefits

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