Do you need advice on Your Money ?

Money advice

I am pleased to announce that we are able to make 8 money advice sessions open to our staff and volunteers.

The sessions will take place at Cwmbran on Wed 25th Feb in the morning and on Tue 10th March in the afternoon. Sessions last 45 minutes and are both free and confidential. Please book your place by emailing lisa.oates@torfaencab.org.uk

The Money Advice Service offers free, confidential, unbiased advice to the public on a range of money topics such as budgeting, debt, insurance, borrowing money, savings, pensions & mortgages.

They generally see clients for 30-45 minutes when we run though a budget planner.  Two reasons, one to assess their financial situation & identify possible debts & also to discuss any topic areas that may be relevant to the client.  So, if a client owns a house but does not have house insurance, while they may not have attended for that reason, we could still have a discussion around the implications of not having this & how to shop around for it.

They are doing a lot of work at the present time on Universal Credit & the implications on budgeting & clients being responsible for paying their rent themselves.

Another area becoming more popular is the pension changes due from April 15.

Generalist Webchat

The webchat project announced in last weeks blog will not now start until April as the implementation team at Citizens Advice are staggering the roll out. We will be in the third cohort of bureau launching this project.

Housing Advice Project

We were disappointing to learn this week that Welsh Government funding for our Housing Advice project will end this April after 16 years. We have been given no reason for this other than that it is the result of a review of all WG services designed to reduce homelessness in response to the new Act. It is especially disappointing as we have consistently exceeded project targets through the period of delivery and also that demand for this service is increasing. We were the only CAB to have delivered services under this project.

We will issue guidance to advisers and referral agencies in due course as to where clients should go for help from the 1st May.

We will be seeking an explanation for this decision and through friends and partners considering what, if anything, can be done to reverse this decision.

Client Satisfaction Pilot

Torfaen CAB is already involved in the new Quality of Advice Audit pilot. In addition we have this week committed to take part in the Client Satisfaction Audit pilot. This will involve a greater focus on identifying clients prepared to take part in an automated feedback questionnaire or telephone interview. Please keep an eye out for further guidance on this.

Bureau closure

The Bureau will next be closed for Easter on Good Friday 3^rd April, Easter Monday 6^th April and Tuesday 7^th April.

Feedback

I always welcome feedback from staff and volunteers, you can ring me up on 01633 876128 send me an email at mal.edgson@torfaencab.org.uk, write me a letter, comment on this blog, place your comment or suggestion in the comments box in the Cwmbran meeting room or come and see me.

This Blog is prepared for the staff and volunteers of Torfaen Citizens Advice Bureau