Cost of Living Support

Aim

Enable us to assist people with disabilities and their carers to access their full entitlement to welfare benefits.

Ipswich Disabled Advice Bureau will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2023.  It was established in 1973 with a £500 grant from the Mayor of Ipswich’s charity fund.  

 In Ipswich 22% of the population identify as having a disability, in Suffolk, as a whole, it is 21%, whereas the national average is 18% of the population.

 Ipswich Disabled Advice Bureau is located in the IP1 postcode, which includes some of the tenth most deprived areas in the country, along with further areas in IP2.   A third of our clients live within the IP1 post code.   (www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019)

We also cover, a rural area in south east Suffolk, north of the border with Essex, and stretching from the Shotley peninsula westwards to Hadleigh and Stoke-by-Nayland. Rural poverty is very hard to quantify, as much of it results from lack of public transport, slow broadband provision and weak, or none existent, mobile phone signals.

 So far, as an organisation, we have survived everything that the Covid-19 crisis has thrown at us, despite Ipswich recording the highest re-infection rate in the country in October 2021.

Covid-19 is still with us, although vaccines are helping to limit the spread and effects of the virus.   Hence, we have had to continue to provide our services remotely whilst working from home, because our office premises are too small to be Covid-19 safe.  Clients, who had to shield, are pleased to continue with telephone appointments.   They are now socialising with family and personal friends again, but do not want to have travel by public transport for a face-to-face appointment.

Now, we all have to deal with another crisis – the rising cost of living, especially the increased cost of gas and electricity and how this will affect us all this coming Winter.  This crisis not only affects our clients but also us as an organisation, and our ability to be able to support people with disabilities, their carers and families through this crisis, as our costs are rising too!  The money raised will be spent on enabling us to provide support to clients to deal with the rising cost of living – helping to complete forms, helping them to understand what help is available from the government and, when and how it will be paid, giving information about what is available locally such as ‘Warm Rooms’, reading letters that they find difficult to understand, as well as where booster vaccinations can be obtained so as to keep everyone protected.      

The majority of our clients are unable to work due to their disabilities and many others are unwaged carers.  Much of our core work focuses on enabling clients to access their full entitlement to welfare benefits.  This work has always been important, but with the increasing cost of living, it is now crucial for our clients, so as to enable them to have a stable, albeit not large, income and be able to access the bottom level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – food, warmth and shelter.

• Money to purchase food, toiletries and cleaning products. 
• Be able to keep warm in cold weather and have light on dark days, help to understand how to use energy wisely and how to minimise any debts due to the rise in the cost of electricity and gas.
• Have somewhere to live and access to financial support e.g. housing benefit component of Universal Credit due to low income, and Council Tax Reduction from their local authority. 

Also, it is important for people to have a phone, so that others can keep in touch with them, thus helping to minimise mental health problems caused by isolation.

Case work with our clients is end-to-end.  A recent Freedom of Information Act response from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stated that 70 percent of new claims, or periodic reviews, of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are initially being turned down, but these decisions are then reversed after an appeal to an independent Tribunal.   

 PIP can help with extra living costs for people who have a long term physical disability, mental health condition or chronic health problem, that results in difficulty doing certain everyday tasks, such as getting dressed, preparing food etc. and with getting around.  They can receive PIP, even if they are working, have savings or are getting most other benefits.

 When clients are turned down for PIP we support them to submit the compulsory Mandatory Reconsideration requesting that the DWP looks at their decision again.  If this is not successful, we have staff trained to provide representation if a client wants to make an appeal about the decision to an independent Tribunal.  Preparation for a Tribunal hearing involves about 10 hours work.  Recently, more and more decisions have been made after the representative’s submission has been received, and prior to the scheduled hearing.   This is very helpful for the appellant, our client, and reduces their anxiety a lot, as the time between lodging an appeal and a Tribunal hearing is in excess of six months, during which payment of PIP is withheld and many people get into debt, especially if this coincides with the rising cost of living.

The carer of somebody who has a disability can only claim Carers' Allowance if the person their care for is in receipt of the Daily Living component of PIP - so having to appeal a PIP decision affects them too.  

 PLEASE HELP US TO CONTINUE THIS WORK DUIRNG THE FORTHCOMING WINTER          

This project successfully funded on 12th January 2023