Page 115 - JUSTICE and AJC Report - Reforming Benefits Decision-Making

Co-location

4.38 Individuals’ problems with benefits often go hand-in-hand with other legal
problems. In particular, housing, benefits and debt issues are commonly
associated: the inability to work leads to a loss of income, which can lead to
non-payment of rent and eviction. In light of this there is clear benefit of
331
co-locating different types of advice together. One successful example of this
that was happening prior to the pandemic was the Westminster Citizens
Advice “Advice Shop”. Advice Shop sessions are run three times a week
across Westminster and bring together a range of organisations providing
advice across benefits, debt, housing, health and community care,
employment, immigration, consumer issues and crime. Clients are triaged to
understand what issue(s) they are facing and then directed to relevant
organisations that they can see all in the same place on the same day.

4.39 Legal problems do not just cluster with other legal problems but also with ill-
health. JUSTICE has previously highlighted the benefits of locating advice
332
provision within primary healthcare settings. Recent research by the
333
Administrative Justice Council found that locating benefits advice within
hospital settings had a number of advantages for both the hospital trusts and
the claimants. This included being better able to assist claimants gather
medical evidence needed to support their benefits claims.
334

4.40 Co-location can also assist in ensuring that those who need advice are able to
access it, by situating advice provision in places or services that vulnerable or
hard to reach groups already use for other purposes. For example, in Northern
Ireland the Community Advice Centre outreach advisers used to situate

331 R. Moorhead and M. Robinson, A trouble shared – legal problems clusters in solicitors’ and advice
agencies (Government Social Research and Department for Constitutional Affairs, 2006); P. Pleasance,
N. Balmer and C. Denvir, How people understand and interact with the law (Legal Education
Foundation, 2015).
332 G. McKeever, M. Simpson and C. Fitzpatrick, Destitution and Paths to Justice (see n. 3 above)
p.52.
333 JUSTICE, Innovations in personally-delivered advice: surveying the landscape (2018).
334 Administrative Justice Council, Health Innovation Ecosystem and University of Westminster,
Access to social welfare advice in a hospital setting: integration of services (see n. 39 above).

106