Have a Good NEWS

Ashleigh Atkinson has come to the Cambridge city branch of Citizens Advice to collect a food voucher. Once the voucher has been completed by his adviser, Harriet, he can take it to the nearby food bank and collect a box of provisions that will keep him going for three days.

The knock-on effects of the decision could prove very expensive for local and central government should he end up losing his home. The housing charity Crisis has calculated the cost of dealing with the results of homelessness can add up to £50,000 a person, and Talbot estimates that in Cambridge £25,000 would be a reasonable figure for rehousing a family.

Atkinson has contested the decision, an appeal is under way and his benefits are meant to have been reinstated, but five weeks later he still has just 82p in his bank account. Harriet speaks to Jobcentre Plus and verifies that a payment should have reached his account that morning. She advises him to check with his bank again, and to return the following morning if nothing has materialised. He also has debt problems, so she sets up an appointment for him to see one of the bureau's specialist debt advisers.

But Talbot admits this is no substitute for face-to-face advice. She says: "The key thing about the investment is not only are we helping more people to be more independent and sort themselves out, it also means we can focus our limited resources on less able people who can't help themselves."

text:

His CAB adviser Lisa Garnett initially suggested he apply for a debt relief order - a form of bankruptcy designed for those with debts of less than £15,000 which costs just £90 - but an overpayment of income support two years ago (which is now being clawed back by the government) has taken him over the limit, and he cannot afford the £525-plus court fees needed to apply for normal bankruptcy. Instead, Garnett will be offering his creditors a token payment of £1 a month.

For people in such an extreme situation, nothing but face-to-face advice will do. Many CAB clients are illiterate, or would struggle to express themselves adequately by phone. But Garnett adds: "To a certain degree it's a counselling role. You have to spend about 20 minutes getting their confidence. Then they will often sit there for five or 10 minutes sobbing because they are overwhelmed, so worked up and stressed by it. You just sit there handing out tissues."

The government believes more advice should be given over the phone and internet, but these sources of help are also struggling under the weight of demand. In June, the Mansfield CAB's three telephone operators dealt with 3,000 calls: It sounds a lot, but it represents just 6.7% of those made to the office.

Back in East Anglia, single parent and former business development director Lesley Murray was originally helped with her financial and benefit problems by the Cambridge Law Centre and Law For All, but these have both closed. Struggling with her health and benefits claims, Murray turned to the Cambridge CAB for help in completing her Employment and Support Allowance and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) tribunal forms.

Most people who have seen the 38-page application form for DLA, which includes questions about how long it takes you to go to the toilet, and how many times you have fallen or stumbled in the last year, would surely agree.