Welfare Rights Team - Annual Report 2023/2024

I joined the Welfare Rights Team a little under 2 years ago, having joined in May 2022. I previously worked in social care, both with children and with adults with disabilities, specifically, autism and in both the public and third sectors. Prior to joining the Welfare Rights Team I worked in the Council's Assessment and Charging Team.

My time in the Welfare Rights Team has been by far the most rewarding of my career so far as every single day we make a quantifiable impact on people's lives. Most of my working week is spent answering calls on our advice line, where we take calls from a wide variety of people, in an even wider variety of situations. Some calls can be as simple as confirming details for a general query, to much more complex and detailed advice and benefit calculations, there and then at the first point of contact. We also offer assisted self-service whereby any benefits/grants that we identify as missing during a call we complete there and then on the call if the forms can be completed online and if it's convenient for the client. We always look at the circumstances of the whole household and often even beyond the household to extended family members e.g. grannies and grandads living elsewhere. It's important that the advice we provide is clear, concise and easy to follow, so we always try to send the advice we've provided to the person in writing or in a format that best suits the needs of the client.

I also carry a caseload of clients that I work with more closely, taking them through the application process all the way to the appeal stage and beyond. In the last year I have supported a number of people including; an army veteran to get his benefits reinstated after they were stopped in error; I've helped a mother and daughter both get disability benefits having previously rejected; and helped a lady where the DWP were refusing to process her change of circumstances that allowed her to reduce her hours at work due to poor health.

The Welfare Rights Team has a really good mix of experience and knowledge with some of us also having personal experience of the benefit system; some having worked for the DWP; and other benefit-related teams within the council, some have backgrounds in advice from the Third sector and from other internal teams such as Housing. The team is really hard working and dedicated, and we support each other to learn and develop regardless of our experience.

As part of our case working, we have designated areas within the local authority. I cover highland Perthshire, which has a wide variety of challenges. People in rural areas are often facing higher costs and expenses and it is vital that we support them to access our service to ensure they get everything they are entitled to. As part of my role I am working with schools; elected members and community groups to get more information out there.

Following one of the recent changes to the approach we take to working I have taken on a role to help liaise with the traveling community and I am really looking forward to getting stuck into working with the various groups. Equality is a core tenet of my beliefs and I can't wait to support such a vulnerable and often maligned group who are regularly missing out on benefits. I've already made some valuable connections with some of the residents at Double Dykes and have distributed a customer survey to gather more information on the needs of the community. We begin our 6-weekly outreach at Double Dykes from May this year and hope to replicate the same with other Gypsy/Traveller sites.

During the time I've been in the team we have experienced Covid restrictions and gone straight from those, deep into the cost-of-living crisis, both of which have seen changes not just in the benefit system and what grants and funds may be available to people, but also how the team operates day-to-day. We have also been contending with the changes in entitlement that impacts EEA Nationals caused by the EU Settlement Scheme. The team has taken all of these challenges on and we have developed a deep knowledge base and adaptable approach that we use every day to make sure all PKC residents that contact us are given the best advice we can.