Granton Information Centre are delighted to announce that we are resuming our benefits/money/debt advice outreach service at Muirhouse Medical Group from the beginning of September.
The appointments are with our advisor Kay on Wednesday afternoons and can be made by contacting the surgery directly on 0131 202 4444.
Please be aware these appointments are for those people who are registered with Muirhouse Medical Group only.
For many people their right to live in their own home goes along with a responsibility to make all relevant payments to a landlord (by way of rent) or a lender (in respect of mortgage repayments).
What may seem like a (possibly just about) manageable amount to pay in good times can quickly become unmanageable and frightening when rapid, unplanned changes lead to reduced income. Although these are challenging circumstances, help is available from different services covering issues likely to relevant, including:
Issues affecting both tenants and mortgage holders:
Tenants in Scotland
Mortgage payers in Scotland
If you are struggling to deal with issues like these, seek help straight away.
Granton Information Centre offers free, professional, independent advice. To find out about how Granton Information Centre can help you, telephone 0131 551 2459, 0131 552 0458 or email info@gic.org.uk
FREE SCHOOL MEALS
information for parents and carers
from GRANTON INFORMATION CENTRE
Families of children from P4 to S6 who receive Free School Meals, and those in P1 to P3 who are entitled to clothing grants, will receive a fortnightly electronic payment during term time and the Easter Holidays equivalent to the cost of a school meal.
Payments are £22.50 per child every fortnight until further notice from 23 March.
All children in primary 1 to 3 receive free school meals if they are attending school, but not free milk or a clothing grant. In the present circumstances, those families won’t receive the £22.50 fortnightly payment unless they are eligible to get the clothing grant and free milk due to low income.
The criteria is the same as for P4-7s.
IT’s NOT TOO LATE TO CLAIM
Parents may still apply for the current academic year and, if eligible, awards will be backdated to 23 March, the start of school closures.
The eligibility for free school meals and/or substitute payment (including P1-3s) depends on the family’s income and they need to be in receipt of one of the following benefits:
Some families will get an automatic award for 2020-21 but others will have to apply when the time comes (they are not receiving applications yet).
Clothing grants applications closed on 31 March but will reopen for the next academic year later.
For more information and keep up to date with possible changes please visit www.edinburgh.gov.uk/schoolgrants
https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/food-clothing/free-school-meals-school-clothing-grants/1
Holyrood’s Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee has published a report on protected trust deeds citing that changes are needed to make the debt solution more effective in supporting people who are in debt.
A protected trust deed is one of three statutory debt solutions in Scotland. It involves a debtor’s assets being managed by an insolvency practitioner for the benefit of the creditors for a four-year period. During this time, part of the debtor’s income is paid to the insolvency practitioner.
Last year around 8,000 people entered a protected trust deed, 150,000 people sought debt advice and, beyond that 600,000 adults are considered to be over-indebted in Scotland.
Amongst its calls within the report, the Committee asked for changes to the way fees are charged in protected trust deeds. The current rules can see debtors making contributions but not reducing their overall debt levels for at least the first two years.
Committee Convener Michelle Ballantyne MSP said: “Now more than ever people’s finances will be feeling the strain, and some will be contemplating seeking help to clear their debts.
“A debt solution should work in reducing that person’s debt. We heard evidence which showed that fees were being frontloaded resulting in the overall debt not lowering despite payments being made. This needs to change.
“The Committee welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to conduct an overarching debt review. However, it is incredibly important that the Scottish Government listen to the Committees recommendations to ensure that protected trust deeds act as an effective debt solution and debtors are safeguarded from the potential harm that can be caused when things go wrong.”
The Committee also heard evidence that online advertising and social media campaigns can target people in debt, offering a solution which is not always suitable for their circumstances.
Michelle Ballantyne MSP added: “People in debt must receive the right help and advice and not choose a solution based purely on what they saw on social media that day.
“The Committee recommends tighter regulations on online advertising and believes that free independent money advice would help ensure that people make the decision right for them.”
There are three statutory debt solutions in Scotland:
Bankruptcy – All of the debtor’s assets are managed by a trustee for the benefit of creditors for a four-year period. Contributions from income will also be required, where appropriate. Almost all outstanding debts are written off at the end of the four-year period, allowing the debtor to become debt free.
Debt Payment Programme under the Debt Arrangement Scheme – Debtors make payments over an extended period of time to pay off their debts. It can last for any “reasonable” time period, but the average is around seven years. Debts are not written off, so the scheme is only available to those who can repay in full over the length of the scheme.
Protected Trust Deed – As with bankruptcy, a debtor’s assets are managed by a trustee for the benefit of creditors for a four-year period. Contributions from income will have to be sufficient to pay the trustee’s fee and provide a return to creditors. Protected Trust Deeds are seen as offering more flexibility than bankruptcy.
Informal debt solutions – Most debtors negotiate informally with their creditors to make lower repayments. These arrangements can be unstable, and do not prevent creditors from taking action to enforce their debts if they think they should be paid more.
The published report can be found here.
Are you struggling to manage debt? Free, independent advice is available. Granton Information Centre’s office on West Granton Road is currently closed to the public, but they at still here to support you.
If you have money worries, employment concerns or housing issues, or if you are claiming benefits for the first time and find it all very complicated, contact Granton Information Centre and speak to an adviser:
Telephone 0131 552 0458 or 0131 551 2459
Email info@gic.org.uk
Granton Information Centre: here to help.
29% of people in Scotland report being worried about their finances having already felt the negative impact of Coronavirus.
People in Edinburgh facing financial difficulty as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak are being encouraged to seek guidance on the help available to them.
Research commissioned by the Scottish Government in partnership with YouGov has revealed that nearly a third of people across Scotland (29%) have already felt the financial strain of the current Covid-19 outbreak and are worried about its impact.
The survey of over 1000 respondents also shows that 71% of people in Scotland are concerned about the lasting impact on their finances.
These findings follow the launch of a new campaign by the Scottish Government and the Citizens Advice network that aims to raise awareness of the financial support available to people in the Capital.
The campaign provides information and advice on issues including rent and mortgage payments, energy bills, council tax, and benefits people may be entitled to.
People throughout Edinburgh are able to access this advice online, by contacting their local Citizens Advice Bureau or getting in touch with any of the capital’s independent advice providers including Granton Information Centre and CHAI.
Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government Aileen Campbell said: “There is no doubt that this is a difficult and worrying time for everyone. Today’s findings further underline the need to provide people across Scotland with the correct support, guidance and information to help them with their finances.
“We need to ensure that people are aware of the support that they are entitled to from the DWP and I would encourage everyone across Scotland who is facing financial difficulty to look into what additional help is available to them.
“That’s why we’ve been working with the Citizens Advice network in Scotland to create this central source of information – with everything from guidance on benefits, right through to what you can do if you are worried about paying your mortgage or rent.”
Adam McVey, City of Edinburgh Council Leader, said: “Work has been ramping up across Edinburgh to make sure our hardest hit citizens get the help they need. From welfare, council tax and debt support for those facing financial hardship, to food supplies for our most vulnerable families, we’ve been pooling resources to direct help to those who are in crisis.
“Our five Council Resilience Centres are providing a base for officers to work from so that they can target online and phone support for those facing hardship or worried about homelessness. And we’re building up a picture of how our most at-risk residents are impacted, so that we can develop longer-term measures through the Edinburgh Poverty Commission.
“It’s going to be so important that we work together to tackle poverty and, in these uncertain times, we know financial worries will weigh on people’s minds. Don’t suffer alone. Know that help is available and get in touch with Citizens Advice or our own Advice Shop for help.”
The Citizen’s Advice network website features dedicated COVID-19 content along with a telephone helpline. Those who have been financially impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and require free, confidential, financial support, can visit cas.org.uk or call 0800 028 1456.
The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC), a network of over 100 organisations, have written an open letter (below) to Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to call for urgent changes to the benefits system to ensure we protect disabled and seriously unwell people from further physical and financial harm during the covid-19 emergency.
Full details of these proposals can be found in the DBC reports section.
“Dear Secretary of State,
Covid-19 – the Disability Benefits Consortium’s proposals for additional short-term measures to protect disabled people’s incomes
The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) is a network of over 100 organisations with an interest in disability and social security. For our full list of members, see https://disabilitybenefitsconsortium.wordpress.com/dbc-members/
Using our combined knowledge, experience and direct contact with millions of disabled individuals, people with long-term health conditions and carers, we seek to ensure that Government policy reflects and meets the needs of all disabled people.
The DBC welcomes the recently announced measures designed to protect the incomes of large numbers of people whose livelihoods have been adversely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. But we believe that these support measures need to go further.
People living with a disability and those with long-term health conditions tend to have lower real incomes and higher costs than the general population and we are calling on the Government to produce a more comprehensive package of support, to better protect these individuals and their families, at this difficult time.
1. One of the most pressing issues is the current level of demand on the system due to the unprecedented number of new claims. This is causing extremely long waiting times and problems with the digital claims process. We welcome the commitment to expand the Department’s capacity, but the challenge remains considerable. We believe that the Government should give high priority to resolving urgently the technical and capacity issues involved.
Also, clear guidance must be made available (to the public and to staff) regarding the correct process to make both a digital claim for Universal Credit (UC) and a non-digital claim, including how the verification call is to be made – that is, if outbound from the DWP rather than inbound from the claimant.
2. The increase in the UC standard allowance is very welcome, helping to cushion the financial shock, which many will experience. However, other claimants likewise face financial challenges, especially after several years of a benefit freeze. We recommend that the Government should give a corresponding uplift of “legacy” and similar benefits – including, for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), the restoration of the Work-Related Activity Group (and UC equivalent Limited Capability for Work) addition.
3. We believe that artificial limits that keep many households (mainly with children) below basic benefit levels are particularly inappropriate at this time. We recommend that the Government should suspend the benefit cap and the “two-child policy”.
4. Any Working Tax Credit (WTC) claimant who loses their job over the coming few months will not be able to continue claiming WTC and will have to claim UC instead. This means they will lose Transitional Protection (TP). As you know, this is a temporary top-up payment that would have been added to their UC to offset any losses, when the DWP eventually transferred them from WTC – but it is not payable when you move to UC because of a change of circumstances, such as job loss.
Disabled people in work and parents of disabled children stand to lose far more than most people if they lose TP – sometimes amounting to thousands of pounds a year. This will make it even more difficult for them to recover from the economic shock of the next few months.
The recommendation above to restore the Limited Capability for Work Addition to UC will help, as long as these claimants can retain it in their UC calculation up to and after they return to work.
Also, we recommend that the lower rate of the disabled child element of UC should be restored to its level in the legacy system.
5. New claimants for UC will have to wait at least five weeks until they receive their first payment. We know that this can mean people face a significant reduction in income, leading to worry about how to pay bills and buy food. The DWP offers an “advance payment”, in effect a loan deducted from future payments, which can leave people struggling to make ends meet. We recommend that the Government should make all UC advances for disabled people non-repayable grants.
6. There has been no formal indication that work-related conditionality has been suspended, although it is difficult to see how it could be meaningfully applied in present circumstances. We recommend that the Government should explicitly suspend work-related conditionality and associated sanctions.
7. Currently, 1.3 million claimants have deductions made from their UC payments to pay debts – over half of them losing 20% or more of their basic allowance. We recommend that the Government should suspend all debt repayment deductions from UC, to ease financial hardship for the duration of the current crisis.
8. It is very important that, during this epidemic, people living with a terminal illness have swift access to benefits via the Special Rules for Terminal Illness. It is our understanding that under UC, people with a terminal illness will temporarily be able to apply via the Special Rules without the DWP needing sight of a DS1500 form (a form signed by a medical professional to say that the person has a reasonable expectation of death within six months). If this is the case, then this is a very welcome step. We recommend that the Government should extend this provision to other benefits which can be applied for under the Special Rules: ESA, Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance.
There are further measures that the Government could take that are likely to have an impact on those living with a disability and in need of benefit support at this time, including:
9. As medical professionals come under more pressure over the coming weeks it is unreasonable to expect they will be able to provide medical evidence to support a claimant’s benefit application. We recommend that the Government should extend the time requirements for claimants to return paperwork and to gather medical evidence where necessary.
10. Similar pressures are likely to slow down the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) process. This will mean people could be receiving less financial support than they are entitled to. We recommend that the Government should pay the basic/ standard rate to claimants whose benefit is suspended pending MR, until the process is completed – and also, fully reinstate a benefit that has been wholly or partly withdrawn and is awaiting MR or an appeal.
11. Help to pay council tax is also crucial at this time of acute financial pressure. We recommend that the Government should encourage Local Authorities to remove features such as the two-child policy and the self-employed claimants’ Minimum Income Floor from their local Council Tax Support/ Reduction schemes. Some have simply copied these rules automatically from DWP benefits, possibly without fully appreciating their adverse impact where claimants are struggling.
We hope that, when something like a normal life returns, the support package as outlined above, which suggests achievable and positive temporary improvements, to be introduced in response to a crisis, might prove a focus for longer-term policy discussion.
Meanwhile, we commend to the Government the above proposals to make immediate changes to complement the emergency measures already taken.
In view of the widespread public interest in the current emergency measures, we shall be releasing these proposals to the media.
Yours sincerely,
Disability Benefits Consortium”
Local help is available if you are experiencing problems with your benefits.
Granton Information Centre provides a free and confidential service. Telephone 0131 551 2459 or 552 0458 or you can email info@gic.org.uk
The office is closed to the public, but the service is very much running!
New claims for PIP have plummeted by more than half since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, the work and pensions committee was told last week.
At the committee session, Justin Tomlinson, minister for disabled people, stated: “We have seen a significant drop in the number of new claimants. We’re not totally sure why.
“But in January 51,000 new claimants in the month. At the beginning of March it was around about 12,000 a week, that’s now down to 5,000 a week as of last week.
Mr Tomlinson also stated that although there were fewer staff now available to deal with disability benefits, new claims for PIP were actually going through more quickly, partly as a result of a switch away from face-to-face assessments and partly due to a drop in the number of claims.
He said the average length of time from the beginning to end of the process has actually improved.
If you are experiencing problems with a PIP claim or need benefits advice Granton Information Centre can help. Due to the Coronavirus restrictions the office is currently closed to the public, but GIC is still operating!
Please call Monday – Friday, 9.30am – 4pm on 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458 if:
•You would like to arrange a telephone appointment to discuss money, benefits, housing or debt
•You wish to discuss an existing case
•You require a foodbank referral
All messages will be returned as long as you clearly leave a telephone number for us to reach you on.
Emails will be monitored daily – our email address is info@gic.org.uk
Due to the Coronavirus restrictions our office currently remains closed to the public – but Granton Information Centre is still operating!
Please call us Mon – Fri, 9.30am – 4pm on 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458 if:
• You would like to arrange a telephone appointment to discuss money, benefits, housing or debt
• You wish to discuss an existing case
• You require a foodbank referral
All messages will be returned as long as you clearly leave a telephone number for us to reach you on.
Emails are being checked daily – our email address is info@gic.org.uk
Granton Information Centre – here for you
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak our office is currently closed to the public – but GIC is still operating!
Call us Monday – Friday, 9.30am – 4pm on on 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458 if:
•You would like to arrange a telephone appointment to discuss money, benefits, housing or debt
•You wish to discuss an existing case
•You require a foodbank referral
All messages will be returned as long as you leave a clear telephone number for us to reach you on.
Emails will be checked daily: our email address is info@gic.org.uk
