Total Enquiries

17,442 enquiries were dealt with by this Bureau over the past year – an increase of 24.4% over the previous year. A notable rise was at South Woodham Ferrers, rising from 220 enquiries last year to 640 enquiries this year.

Total Enquiries for 2005 - 2006

Total Enquiries for 2005 – 2006 was 17,442 Total Enquiries for 2004 – 2005 was 14,016

Workload Categories

Workload Categories show the level of support we give to our clients. It is important to note that Liaison & Negotiation and Representation workload categories have both increased this year, which is an indication of the level of support we are giving our clients as the enquiries become more complex.

Enquiry Categories
The categories for enquiries are shown to the right. These can be split into new issues about which a client wishes to seek advice, and repeat issues where the client returns to us for additional support. It is not surprising that the main issues are Welfare Benefits and Debt, followed by Employment and Housing, as this has been the trend for many years. This is also supported by needs analysis of the area. What the repeat issues highlight is the need for clients to keep returning for further assistance in these categories of law, again supporting the trend that client enquiries are forever getting more complex, and therefore requiring additional adviser time.

Headcount
Despite the trend for more complex issues being
presented, we have been able to accommodate an
increase of 12.6% in the number of clients coming
to the Bureau due to the increased recruitment and
training of new advisers.

Gains

The total amount gained in welfare benefits and other income totalled £420,627 for 188 clients