Lizzy Candy
Bureau Assistant & Social Policy Co-ordinator & Guidance Tutor

Employment

Citizens Advice has brought out a report called “Empty Justice”. It refers to clients who succeed at Employment Tribunals, but who never actually get the money to which they are entitled. Citizens Advice is still asking for evidence on this. We have had two clients in this position. One had been owed £3,000 in unpaid wages. The company she worked for has ceased trading, and despite County Court enforcement, the bailiffs have been unable to seize any company assets. The company is now trading under a new name, but with the same directors, and the client cannot claim against the new company as the Tribunal award is against the original company. Another client was awarded £1,227 by an Employment Tribunal. Her ex-employer has not paid her and is reported to be filing for bankruptcy. She has incurred rent arrears of £925 and her Housing Association is seeking possession.

Two Slovakian clients came to the Bureau. They had each paid £380 to an Agency to make arrangements for employment and accommodation. They were met at Liverpool Street by a “rep” who asked them to complete an application form, for which they paid £380. They were given a receipt and told to go to Chelmsford where everything would be arranged.
There was nobody at Chelmsford to help them, and the telephone contact was a wrong number. Chelmsford Trading Standards checked the agency details and found both the address and postcode was false. The local police are investigating the matter with the Metropolitan Police.

We continue to have clients with Tax Credit problems. The system is complicated and it is very difficult to understand Inland Revenue assessments. The inter-relation between Income Support and Child Tax Credits is confusing to clients (and too difficult to explain here!)
The two cases we have sent to Citizens Advice as social policy issues concern the problems that clients have had in understanding how Tax Credits have been assessed.

One client is a 65 year old widow, is an owner occupier with income of £600 month. She has debts and loans from High Street bank amounting to £13,000. When she went to see the bank manager about her debts, he suggested that she consolidate the debts by taking out an endowment mortgage against the house at a fixed rate of 6%. The bank manager and another person escorted her to the building society to set up the endowment and £300 was taken on her credit card to pay the administrative costs.
(When her family discovered this, they persuaded client not to proceed with this arrangement.)
Another client, now living in sheltered accommodation, has received letters from debt collectors demanding payment for an old debt to a bank from over 13 years ago. The debt collectors are threatening bankruptcy. Although this action is not illegal, we consider it to be sharp practice. Press
The Bureau has been recognised as having an active Social Policy team by receiving several mentions in Citizens
Advice national social policy bulletin which has a wide circulation. The latest mention (February 2006) concerned CABx building good working relationships with MPs.
Quote “Last year Chelmsford (CAB) wrote to Simon Burns MP outlining concerns over in-year adjustments following tax credit overpayments.
Social Policy Officer Gilly Lutton sent the West
Chelmsford MP a copy of a Bureau Evidence Form
outlining the hardship faced by a single mother in his constituency due to the issue. The MP raised the issue with Treasury minister Dawn Primarolo who wrote to the CAB
outlining ongoing attempts to improve the clarity of
information provided to families and to “target
more active support on vulnerable families.”

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