Tax Credit Changes Under UC

HMRC will be making changes to the Tax Credit renewal system as Universal Credit is introduced, meaning that from Autumn 2014 they will finalise a claimant's tax credit award as soon as they switch to UC, rather than waiting until the end of the financial year. This is likely to cause a lot of confusion for claimants and employers when calculating periods of income, so they will be holding two stakeholder events in Manchester City Centre on 6th and 13th August to talk through the transition from Tax Credit to UC, and give stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions.

The events will be held at the Tribunals Service, 1st Floor Piccadilly Exchange, 2 Piccadilly Plaza, Mosley Street, Manchester, M1 4AH; for more details about the changes, or to book a space, email

BCCG@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.

 

More information can be found below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPYUVtc2tuMHY3WHc/edit?usp=sharing

Your Weekly News Round-Up

Some interesting pieces that caught our attention this week....

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPY3NOSXlRaTNqVFU/edit?usp=sharing

MAA July Forum - and TRAINING CHOICE!

July's Forum was a great session, with an informative talk from the Booth Centre on the new regulations for EEA migrants, as well as an opportunity for people to discuss the services their organisations offer in the hope of making better signposting connections. We also covered the usual forum 'rolling topics', as well as giving an update on what the Alliance have been up to. The notes, plus the slides from the presentation can be found below:

Notes: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPZ1NEejhBQkFVUGs/edit?usp=sharing
Presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPaFBUTTY3QjhLTWc/edit?usp=sharing

Most importantly, we talked about the next forum, and we really need your feedback on this as a matter of urgency. Firstly, the topic - we're hoping to provide a full training session for either a full or half day (topic dependent) and we want to make sure it's the right choice of topic for you, so we need your input. Secondly, the date - it was due to be held on August 21st, but we recognise that services may be even more pushed than usual over the summer holidays, meaning that taking time out for training is impossible, so we're asking if it would be better to move it to the first week in September.

What you need to do:
Comment below, or email rosi.hunter@manchestercab.org to let us know your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices of training topic from the following options:

PIP - what you need to know
Universal Credit
Welfare Reform & Sanctions
Welfare Benefits Refresher / Update
ESA Appeals
Housing Benefit Problem Areas
Bedroom Tax - 1 Year On
Dealing with Destitution
Challenging PIP decisions

Also, let us know if you'd prefer to keep the date as the 21st August, or if it would be better in September.

Please get back to us by 5pm, Monday 28th July.

Justice for All

Do you want to have your say on cuts to legal aid and advice services? Access to Advice and Justice Alliance North are holding a public meeting during to discuss these issues when the Labour Party Conference is on in Manchester in September. Shadow Minister Andy Slaughter MP and family lawyer Cris McCurley will be speaking, and there will be a screening of Justice Alliance's film about the impact of legal aid cuts.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday 23rd September from 5pm at Cross Street Chapel. For more information, click the link below to see the flyer:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPWmhfSDJCdGxsbXM/edit?usp=sharing

Ooooooh New Feature!

So, we thought it might be interesting for us to round up some of the main stories hitting the news each week - ones which may have slipped under your radar but might be of interest. Asia's been hard at work scouring the internet, and so your first 'weekly news round up' is attached below....enjoy!

If you have any stories you think would be good to include in future round-ups, just email them over to asia.aziz@manchestercab.org

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPUi0xaEFGQTFlS1k/edit?usp=sharing

Real Life Reform update

A while back, we posted the first Real Life Reform report, which is tracking the impact of Welfare Reform on 100 people across Manchester through to 2015. They've actually been publishing reports every quarter, but we've just become aware of this, as the July update has been released (it includes links to the interim reports, too).

Unsurprisingly, it's a fairly bleak picture, with headlines including '12.5% have used a food bank at least once in the last 3 months', '3 out of 10 households spend less than £20 per week on food' and unemployed households seeing a 17% reduction in the money they have left after bills. Still, an interesting and informative read - click the link below to read the full report:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPTTg5OUVLZXF5R1E/edit?usp=sharing

Another Job Opportunity

There's a new job available at Manchester CAB for a Generalist Adviser in their GP Outreach team. It's a temporary post for 6 months, and applications need to be in by Monday 21st July.

For the advert and more details, click here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPZ3RiMXZWaGdqZ1k/edit?usp=sharing

July Training Calendar

Sorry, it's a little late....and a little sparse - July is clearly a quiet time for courses! But the training calendar for July is here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPSFpCVnpqNnd2eFU/edit?usp=sharing

Welfare Reform - Where Are We Up To?

As we all know, Welfare Reform is a massive process, so it's easy to get a little bit lost about what's already happened, what's going to happen....and really, just what day of the week it is sometimes! Anyway, we can't help you with the last one, but the Social Policy Team at CAB have come up with a handy document  which looks at where we're up to with Welfare Reform, and what the process has been, just to help you keep on top of it all....take a look: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPczhrSVlEcm5kR1k/edit?usp=sharing

Universal Credit Update

A couple of weeks ago, we went along to the Universal Credit Stakeholder Event for the North West. Unsurprisingly, firm dates for roll-out and action were somewhat elusive, but they gave a presentation about the story so far, as well as the key principles of Universal Credit and how these will impact on people. We've included the presentation for you to see for yourself below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPbTRVUHF4MVhJeU0/edit?usp=sharing