Emma Harrison has been in America looking at social and welfare reform, while Mark Lovell reports "some good new business in welfare skills and local govt."
Monday 4 April 2011
A4e and money
A press release by the Press Association this morning hasn't been picked up by the media. A4e has another contract. That fact is rather tucked away in the story that, "A new independent service is being launched to offer free advice on financial issues over the phone, the internet and face-to-face through a nationwide network of centres." This "Money Advice Service" is free to use for everyone, and is a rehashing of a service that's been there for a while. Now it's adding a national face-to-face service, provided in England and Northern Ireland by A4e. (In Scotland and Wales, Citizens Advice have the contract.) A4e have been involved in this for a while so perhaps the papers don't think it's news. They're too busy pushing the start of the drive to get people off incapacity benefits. The Money Advice Service's own website makes no mention of A4e. And there's nowhere a statement of how much this contract is worth to A4e.
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At least the funding is not from the public purse for once. Nevertheless she a greedy so and so!
ReplyDeleteTheoretically CABs in England and Wales will benefit in as much as there will be more time to help clients with other problems. On the other hand their workload will increase with the new pressure on those on Disability Benefit ......
Just an aside. I know someone who has been in receipt of Disability Allowance for several years. The person were sent a form which was not received and therefore was not returned.. Consequently the benefit ceased ..... It is going to The Tribunal but not until August.
The persons lawyer has advised his/her client to get another copy of the form that was supposed to be filled in. The DSS will not give one. The benefit has been reinstated until The Tribunal decision but of course should that person lose they will have to replay it .....
Simone, the money is indeed coming from the public purse. It's government funded.
ReplyDeleteThe CABs depend on funding from local councils, and they've been displaced in several places by the CLACs run by A4e under council contracts.
The money advice service apply a compulsory levy on financial services to fund their "free advice" service.
ReplyDeleteThis may sound like a good idea as most people think banks etc can afford it.
However, Independent Financial Advisers, some of whom are small business owners, struggling to make ends meet in the current economic crisis, are also forced to pay this levy. In effect, government is forcing small business to fund multi million pound industries like A4E