Empowering Communities - Law Centres

Derby sh i r e L aw Cen t r e • Annua l Repo r t 2015 - 16

Annual Report 2015 - 2016

Working to protect your legal rights

Owned by the community • Accountable to the community • Serving the community

EmpoweringCommunities

Chair’s reportEmpowering communitiesThis is what we are about. Ourclients are individuals and theirfamilies who are disadvantagedby socio-economic reasons.Derbyshire Law Centre was set upin 1989 to support them throughprovision of free advice,assistance and representation insocial welfare law: communitycare, debt, employment,homelessness, housing,immigration and tackling hateand harassment.

The past year has involved us, as a not-for-profitorganisation, empowering individuals, families andcommunities by providing them a voice to help resolvethe problems that get in their way of moving onsuccessfully in life. The cuts to legal aid and furtherincreases in court and tribunal fees continue to makeaccess to justice difficult for many people. I see littleprospect of this climate changing in the near future. I amvery proud of the work that the Law Centre has doneover the year in preventing homelessness, ensuring debtsare written off or reduced and people’s employmentrights respected.

We also talk to key stakeholders to provide a voice tothose who are not heard such as tenants, those on lowpay and migrants living in Derbyshire. We have workedin partnership with key agencies to bring about positivechanges for people. For example we are working closelywith LINKS Council for Voluntary Service and otheragencies to set up a Migrants Centre in Derbyshire thatwill represent up to 27 nationalities residing in thecounty. This will enable the public authorities and otherinterested stakeholders to easily consult them.

We have been successful in securing funding for specialistadvice provision for refugees and their families. We arepursuing opportunities to secure funding in order tocontinue to provide specialist advice on hate crime. Thiswas in response to the outcome of the EU Referendumthat resulted in hundreds of calls being made bymigrants and their families to Law Centres across thecountry about their rights to live and work in the UK. Wewere taken aback by the amount of hate that has beendisplayed towards migrant workers and their families.

With support from Chesterfield Borough Council wecontinue to share premises with three other adviceagencies: Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centres(DUWC), LINKS Council for Voluntary Service and theTrade Union Safety Team (TRUST). This has proved asuccessful move and allows our clients to receive a moreholistic service

We have further diversified income streams such assecuring funding from the European Commission. These


Cllr Michael Gordon, Chair,Derbyshire Law Centre’sManagement Committee.

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changes are putting the Law Centre in a position to copewith future challenges and to protect its free legalservices for residents across the County.

We continue to deliver free legal services from eightoffices across Derbyshire, two of which are based inlibraries. The branch offices could not be sustainedwithout support from the Legal Aid Agency, DerbyshireCounty Council and Advice Services Transition Fund (BigLottery Fund) as well as our local partners: Banner JonesSolicitors, VHS Fletcher Solicitors, Derbyshire DistrictsCitizens Advice and Amber Valley CVS.

Finally I would like to convey my thanks to DerbyshireCounty Council, Bolsover District Council, ChesterfieldBorough Council, and North East Derbyshire DistrictCouncil for their continued provision of core funding andAmber Valley Borough Council/Futures Housing Groupand Derbyshire Dales District Council for their projectfunding, and without which, none of this is possible. Mythanks also go to fellow Management Committeemembers and to staff and volunteers at the Law Centrefor all their assistance and co-operation. It has been anextremely eventful, exciting and enjoyable year.

I have to end my review on a sad note. Earlier this year,Darren Webber passed away after a short illness. Darrenhad served on our management committee for manyyears and was treasurer for most of those. Hechampioned the Law Centre tirelessly and represented uson the Law Centres Network National Committee. Hewas a fantastic colleague and will be sorely missed.

I am very proud to present this report which I hope youwill find illuminating.

Michael GordonChair, Derbyshire Law Centre Management Committee.

De rby sh i r e L aw Cen t r e • Annua l Repo r t 2015 - 16

Thank you to all the organisations that have given theLaw Centre, an independent agency, financialassistance during the period 1.4.2015 – 31.3.2016.

Chesterfield Borough Council, Derbyshire CountyCouncil, North East Derbyshire District Council,Bolsover District Council, Derbyshire Dales DistrictCouncil, Amber Valley Borough Council, Legal AidAgency, A B Charitable Trust, Big Lottery Fund (AdviceServices Transition Fund), National Lottery through theHeritage Lottery Fund, East Midlands Money AdvicePartnership via Money Advice Service, DerbyshirePolice and Crime Commissioner, Law Centres Network,Access to Justice, Derbyshire Dales Citizens AdviceBureau and Comic Relief.


An overview of the past 12 monthsWe entered the last financialyear with some project fundingstreams drawing to a close anda period of some uncertainty.We have been workingintensely with partners over thepast year to secure significantfunding for the future to sustain our work withindividuals and communities who have provedparticularly vulnerable. Those efforts have provedsuccessful and we have been accepted as a partneragency on three Consortia bids for funding from the EUin both the Derbyshire / Nottinghamshire area (D2N2),and South Yorkshire. Those bids were then successful, ledby Advice Nottingham, Framework and South YorkshireHousing. These projects are due to commence deliveryin the next few months, and will enable us to employPersonal Navigators to work with people facinghomelessness and also debt crisis. We will also be able toemploy staff to work with people with complex andmultiple needs, specifically through a Community Careadvice worker as well as an advocate to assist people atcourt. We will also be a specialist referral agency forpeople with employment, housing, immigration anddebt problems.

We have also been working hard with Derbyshire Helpand Advice and LINKS CVS to secure Big Lottery fundingfor a project aimed at helping people in crisis. The 5 year project will work with communities where Englishis not their first language, who often struggle more thanmost in overcoming crises requiring them to engage withcourts, statutory agencies and creditors, for example.

Our immigration expertise has been in demand over thelast year. We are partners with a number of agenciesnationally as part of the Law Centres Network EU fundedproject called ‘Living Rights’ to promote and inform EUcitizens, public officials and local agencies of the rightsof EU citizens living in the UK. The recent Brexit vote hasmeant that concerns about EU citizens’ eligibility toremain in the UK have come to the fore. We have alsobeen awarded funding to set up a Resettlement Advice

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Tony McIlveen

Migrants taking part in a LivingRights session led by Tony McIlveen


Centre for refugees across the County and hope to startwork on this shortly, given the likely arrival of SyrianRefugee families to Derbyshire in the near future.

Our Hate and Harassment project, tackling Hate Crime inDerbyshire, funded by the Derbyshire Police and CrimeCommissioner and Derbyshire County Council also came toan end in March. Sadly, we were unable to securefunding to continue the work and this has meant that forthe first time in many years, we have no discriminationspecific project at the Law Centre and sadly saw one ofour valued members of staff, Sarah Roy, leave us. We areworking on developing a new project to take up thisimportant work once more.

Another area of law that we have battled to maintain thispast year is our employment service. Employment advicecontinues to be a great area of need and an importantpart of our core work, but funding cuts, caused by theremoval of employment advice as an area of law thatattracts Legal Aid, has meant that our service has had tobe reduced far more than we would wish. We havecontinued to offer a charged service for this work andhave sought funding for employment project work from anumber of sources, without success. We have also beenengaging with local universities with a view to expandingthe ways in which free employment advice can bedelivered in Derbyshire.

Our housing team has been very busy in the last year. Werepresented 144 families and individuals facing possessionhearings at Chesterfield County Court under the County

Court Duty Scheme that we operate. We preventedpossession orders being made in 86% of cases. We arealso pleased to be working with 4 councils – Chesterfield,NE Derbyshire, Bolsover and Amber Valley – who haveprovided us with financial assistance to offer free legaladvice and representation to those facing eviction due tomortgage and rent arrears in their areas. This work hasbeen very successful and had a financial benefit to thecouncils involved in reducing homelessness applicationsand associated costs.

Recognition must go to our volunteers who operate ourInitial Assessment and Signposting Service. These are localpeople who give up their valuable time each week to staffour telephone lines and are the first point of contact formany of our users. They make sure that people either getan appointment to see one of our specialists, if it is one ofour areas of law, or that the caller is given an effectivereferral to the agency that is best placed to help withtheir problem. Their skill and dedication is greatlyappreciated by staff as well, as callers in caller satisfactionsurveys.

We are pleased to report that we have been awarded theLaw Centres' Network Enterprise Award for tenacity,creativity and defiant response to cuts through extendingservices to the people in Derbyshire.

As our new projects start delivery, we look forward toanother successful and eventful year to come.

Tony McIlveenSenior Solicitor on behalf of Law Centre’s staff

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6 Derby sh i r e L aw Cen t r e • Annua l Repo r t 2014 - 15De rby sh i r e L aw Cen t r e • Annua l Repo r t 2015 - 166

HousingThe housing advisers’ work is about preventinghomelessness. They also provide advice on issues ofdisrepair, succession, reducing rent arrears and ontenancy rights for people living in social or privaterented housing.

Case study - Mrs T’s storyMrs T attended at the Law Centre the day before she wasdue to be evicted by her registered social landlord. Shewas being evicted due to rent arrears. After spendingsome time with our caseworker going through her recenthistory it became clear that due to depression and othermedical issues, she had not been dealing with her benefitclaim in relation to her rent. She had a number of items ofdisrepair at the property and all of this she felt impossibleto deal with.

On taking full instructions on the disrepair it became clearthat her case was quite valuable and that she would beentitled to some damages from her landlord, particularlydue to the fact that she had been without heating over thewinter months. The caseworker from the Law Centre madean application to the court to stop the eviction and toenter a counterclaim for the disrepair at the property. Thedisrepair had previously been reported to the landlord,however they had failed to carry out the repairs. Thecounterclaim was then made and the case settled with thedefendant’s arrears being wiped out in full. Therefore thethreat of homelessness which had been so near wasprevented by the quick action of our caseworker who usedtheir specialist legal knowledge to make an application tothe court and to start a claim for the disrepair.

Derby sh i r e L aw Cen t r e • Annua l Repo r t 2014 - 15 7Derby sh i r e L aw Cen t r e • Annua l Repo r t 2015 - 16

Community CarePractising in Community Care law coversservices provided by public authorities thatprovide health and social care services. Ourclients are disabled and older people and theirparents and carers.

Derbyshire Law Centre works in partnershipwith Children’s and Adults Social Caredepartments in order to make our clients’ liveseasier as well as more cost affective forcouncils, as seen in the case study.

Case study - Mrs P’s storyMrs P is looking after a young adult son with severe disabilities. Ashe gets bigger and she gets older, as she has her own healthproblems, he gets harder to look after. The only people the son getsalong with are members of his family, most of whom liveelsewhere. Mrs P saw an opportunity to exchange her tenancy withanother tenant so she could live closer to her family all of whomwould help her care for her son.

Tenancy exchanges can be refused by a landlord if the property thatthe family with no disabled members would be exchanging into isan adapted property, as Mrs P’s is. The landlord quite properlyrefused the exchange.

The Law Centre worked in partnership with the Children’s SocialCare Department and obtained a Care Act Assessment and plan forthe son and a Carer’s Assessment for Mrs P. Following theassessments which confirmed that caring for the son would be verymuch easier if the exchange was allowed, Children’s Social Carewere persuaded to formally ask for co-operation from the councillandlord under the Children Act. The exchange was then approved.This saved the Children’s Social Care Department from having toexpensively increase services to Mrs P and son, as the family filledthe caring gap. It was a great outcome for Mrs P and her family andalso an example of how different agencies can work together forthe good of individual families.

Chesterfield County CourtDuty SchemeOur specialist housing and debt team operates a dutyscheme at Chesterfield County Court providing a freerepresentation service to people facing eviction fromtheir rented ormortgagedhomes. This isimportant, notonly in termsof theprovision oflegalrepresentationbut also inproviding theemotionalsupport forclients at avery stressfultime. Our legalexperts workuntil the verylast minute inexploring waysto preventeviction.

8 Derby sh i r e L aw Cen t r e • Annua l Repo r t 2015 - 16

Case study - Ms B’s storyThe Law Centre met with Ms B for the first time at court,where possession proceedings had been taken againsther by her local authority landlord. The client sufferedfrom severe depression and other mental health issues.

Allegations of antisocial behaviour had been madeagainst her. It became apparent that the issues ofantisocial behaviour were due to poor relations generallywith her immediate neighbour and those poor relationshad existed ever since she moved into the property.

The case was adjourned so that we could obtain amedical report, which showed that it was the mentalhealth issues that caused some of the alleged behaviour.The client agreed to try new medication to manage hermental health issues and on the basis that this was triedand would prevent some of the auditory hallucinations,the local authority agreed to a suspended possessionorder to enable the client to have another chance atkeeping her tenancy.

Chesterfield County Court

9Derby sh i r e L aw Cen t r e • Annua l Repo r t 2015 - 16

Employment UnitProviding a free, specialist service in employment continuesto be challenging. Demand for free employment advice isas high as ever, but there is much less specialist helpavailable; Legal Aid is no longer available for employmentissues (other than discrimination); and, unless they are on alow income and qualify for fees remission, claimants arecharged fees of up to £1200 to take a claim in theEmployment Tribunal.

As a result, whilst there is still legislation in place to protectworkers, rights are hard to enforce, and the costs involvedcan be prohibitive.

The Law Centre continues to provide a free service as aresult of funding from three main sources:

l Annual core funding from Chesterfield BoroughCouncil, North East Derbyshire District Council,Derbyshire County Council and Bolsover District Council;

l Annual funding from Derbyshire County Councilcovering South Derbyshire;

l Returns from our charged-for service contribute tofunding free provision.

Our charged-for service offers low-cost advice andrepresentation in employment law.

Employment advice is a priority for the Law Centre and wecontinue to seek new funding so that we can maintain anddevelop the free service.

Case study - Mrs D’s storyMrs Deal had been working for a local convenience storefor about six months. Whilst her contracted hours of workwere 16 per week, in reality she was expected to workextra unpaid hours when the owner was unable to providecover. As a result of additional unpaid hours worked, MrsDeal was earning less than national minimum wage.

Mrs Deal wanted to raise the matter with her employerbut was worried about losing her job if she did,particularly as she had worked for less than 2 years and sodid not have general protection against unfair dismissal.

We assisted Mrs Deal in raising a written grievance withher employer alleging that the unpaid wages were abreach of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (as wellas an unlawful deduction from wages under theEmployment Rights Act 1996). This provided Mrs Dealwith additional protection as, by asserting a right under anAct of Parliament (the right to be paid the nationalminimum wage) she was protected against unfairdismissal, regardless of her length of service.

Whilst the employer was unhappy at Mrs Deal’s grievance,he eventually saw sense and paid her for the additionalhours worked. In total, we were able to recoverapproximately £600 in unpaid wages over a 6 monthperiod and Mrs Deal kept her job.

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DebtWe continue to receive funding from theMoney Advice Service, distributed andmanaged regionally by East Midlands MoneyAdvice. This funding is vital as it allows us toadvise anyone with a debt issue, regardless oftheir individual circumstances. The service isfree, and we give advice by phone or in person,depending on need. We specialise in housingrelated debt, but can advise on any number ofissues, from helping people organise theirdebts long term, or writing debts off, ifappropriate.

We have a good working relationship with ourlocal councils which is vital when contactingthem about clients in debt with rent arrears andcouncil tax. This year we have seen a rise in thenumber of people coming to the end of interestonly mortgages, which were set up many yearsago, and have now reached crisis point. We alsosee a large number of people who, throughstress pay the ‘wrong’ debts first, often puttingthemselves and their families at risk of eviction.We work closely with the housing team here atthe Law Centre to help our clients re-organisewhat to pay first.


Case study - Sam and Laura’s story…Sam and Laura came to see us as they were paying £200 per month toa debt management company they had found through the internet.When they set this up both of them were working, but Sam can nolonger work because of ill health, so their household income has gonedown. Through trying to keep up with the debt management planpayments, they were falling behind in paying their mortgage, andcouncil tax. We told them to immediately cancel the arrangement theyhad with the debt management company, as they were in fact payingmore in fees to this company than towards their debts, running the riskof court action being started by the mortgage company.

We went through a range of options with them, and told them that analternative debt management plan could be set up without a fee,which would mean 100% of what they pay out would go towardstheir debts. We helped them draw up a basic financial statement, andtalked them through the process, before referring them on to thecharity for a long term plan to be set up.

As a result Sam and Laura are now paying a smaller affordable amounteach month to a reputable debt management charity with no feescharged to them. They are now back on top of their mortgage andcouncil tax payments, and feeling far less stressed about their debts.Until they came to the Law Centre they had no idea that debtmanagement plans, under which one monthly payment is made to acompany/charity, and then distributed to each creditor, could be doneat no charge to them.


DiscriminationThe effects of discrimination can be debilitating forthose who are on the receiving end.

The Law Centre advises and assists people on issuesrelating to discrimination. An example of our work ishighlighted in a recent case study that aptlydemonstrates how early intervention by the Law Centrecan often stop the need for formal legal proceedingsand keep people in work.

Case study - Mr M’s storyMr M had been employed within a warehouse for 16years. As a result of cancer, Mr M was absent from workfor some time whilst he underwent extensivechemotherapy. Cancer is a condition that is automaticallycovered as a disability under the Equality Act 2010.Accordingly, Mr M was owed a higher duty of care as anemployee.

During his convalescence, Mr M’s employers starteddismissal proceedings on the grounds of ill health.

Whilst the dismissal process was ongoing, we were able toobtain medical advice supporting the position that Mr Mwould be fit to return to work within a matter of weeks,providing he was allowed a suitable period of recuperationand a phased return when he went back to work. It wasargued that the employer had taken action too early andthat it would be a ‘reasonable adjustment’ under theEquality Act to allow Mr M the extra time needed torecover from his illness.

After considerable negotiation, the employer retracteddismissal proceedings and Mr M is now back at work.


Mortgage RepossessionOur specialism in housing law allows us to give quickand effective advice to home-owners facingpotential eviction through mortgage arrears. Wework constructively, often with support from ourlocal councils, to prevent evictions whereverpossible. We help clients facing urgent court actionwhere eviction is imminent, and with longer termstrategies to enable clients to keep their homes,often through effective advice on how to manageand prioritise debt. We are grateful to ChesterfieldBorough, North East Derbyshire and Bolsover DistrictCouncils who fund this work through their homelessprevention funds.

Case study - Jenny and Pete’s storyJenny and Pete contacted us about court papers they hadreceived from their second mortgage lender. They had twomortgages, and both were in arrears, but only the secondlender had started court action so far.

We looked at their household income and immediatelyidentified the need for Pete to claim PIP, as a result of his longterm health issues. We were able to make an immediatereferral for Pete to the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers Centre,who we share premises with, for help with this. We also wentthrough all of Pete and Jenny’s weekly and monthlyexpenditure, plus their income, and went through item by itemwhere savings could be made (i.e. with cheaper broadbandproviders or energy deals), looked at some expenditure thatcould be cancelled altogether, and put payment proposals toboth the mortgage lender and the second charge lender.

As a result of our intervention the court action was put onhold, and a payment plan was set up. Pete and Jenny havehad to make sacrifices on things they previously spent moneyon, but they were prepared to do this to make sure the housewould not be repossessed. They told us that before they cameto see us at the Law Centre they had no idea that the housecould be repossessed if they stopped making the secondcharge repayments.


ImmigrationImmigration advice provisionDerbyshire Law Centre continues to give specialistimmigration advice over the telephone and by email. Atpresent we do not have the resources to offer a fullcasework service. We are looking at ways to offer acasework and representation service, but this is subject tofunding. As has been reported in previous AnnualReports, the loss of legal aid for immigration advice hasended and our ability to deliver a publicly fundedcasework service has been severely hit.

Accreditation success!

Tony McIlveen, our immigration solicitor, has recentlypassed his re-accreditation assessments to renew his LawSociety Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Schememembership (a form of quality mark) at Level 2 SeniorCaseworker and Supervisor Level. This will be an essentialrequirement if we are to bid for a Legal Aid contract againin immigration and asylum work in 2017/18.

Funding success for Derbyshire ResettlementAdvice ServiceWe are extremely pleased to have been awarded fundingfrom A B Charitable Trust for a new specialist adviceservice: Derbyshire Resettlement Advice Service. This willsupport and integrate refugees and their families whoare separated across international borders. This newservice will commence from Autumn 2016 for the next 12 months.

Living Rights

We are also a partner agency in a project being led bythe Law Centres Network, funded by the EU, called‘Living Rights’. This project sets out to inform and adviseEU citizens, statutory bodies and other agencies of therights and entitlements of EU citizens living in the UK.Under the project we deliver presentations to groups andprofessionals as well as advice sessions to EU citizensacross the East Midlands. The 2 year project started inDecember 2015. We have delivered talks to EU nationalsas well as community forums in Derbyshire.

Derbyshire Bilingual Crisis Buddy serviceThis new service funded by the Big Lottery Fundcomplements our specialist immigration advice service asvolunteers who are bilingual are trained to become Crisisbuddies to support those whose first language is notEnglish.


Tackling Hate and HarassmentWith funding from Derbyshire Police and CrimeCommissioner, we delivered a:

l County-wide reporting centre

l Free enhanced specialist advice and casework service

l Free hate & harassment telephone advice &signposting service

We enabled & supported 83 people to report incidents tothe Police.

We provided free legal casework to 47 individuals. Thecasework was fairly evenly split between those motivatedby race, disability and sexual orientation.

Examples of casework assistance provided are:-l Advising and assisting a woman whose son had been

beaten up after he had tried to defend her againstharassment in the flats she was living in.

l Intervention in a neighbour dispute which involved adegree of harassment targeted at a disabled benefitsclaimant.

We advised 108 people on keeping safe from harm aswell as informing them of their rights in order to tacklehate crime. Some examples are given below of the broadrange of issues we have dealt with through the pre-booked call-back system:-

l A street homeless woman being harassed in a park

l A gay man being called homophobic names inChesterfield by strangers in the street

l A woman whose car had been scratched and shethought this was linked to her neighbours, who had aproblem with her using her blue badge to park in adisabled space

We represented victims of hate crime at events andmeetings such as the Derbyshire Hate Crime SteeringGroup, Chesterfield Equality Forum and Health andWellbeing Forum. We also find local solutions to preventand tackle hate crime and harassment through buildingagencies and groups’ capacity to support victims. Forexample we worked with Links CVS to secure freepremises at our shared office space in Chesterfield forDerbyshire LGBT+ to assist LGBT victims of hate crimethere, without the need for them to travel to Derby City.

Incident type Numbers of incidents to Police

Racial 16Religious 3Homophobic 19Transgender 2Disability 23Other 20TOTAL 83


Social History project - Homefor GoodA departure from the usualwork of the Law Centrewhich has proved a greatsuccess is the Home forGood project. It wasfunded by the NationalLottery through theHeritage Lottery Fund, andran for just over a year –from April 2015 to the endof June 2016. The aim wasto collect experiences ofsocial housing from localresidents, so that they couldbe set against the background of legal changes from thetenth century when the first alms houses were built up,to the present day. The project received an enthusiasticresponse from partners, contributors, volunteers, visitorsand suppliers, and they all helped make it somethingwe’re very proud of.

We received contributions from local people in the formof oral and video history, written accounts, photographs,documents and objects. The centrepiece of the project isits website, www.socialhousinghistory.org.uk, and mostof the material we collected can be accessed on orthrough the website.

As well as thewebsite, wedeveloped anexhibition whichtravelled to eventsand locations aroundthe area,culminating in amonth-long stay atChesterfieldMuseum. Twoversions of the finalexhibition have started touring libraries in and aroundChesterfield and North Eastern Derbyshire, and willcontinue to do so until January 2017. The schedule ofdates and venues can be found in the ‘News and Events’section of the website.

The material collected by the project will be held atDerbyshire Record Office, and once it has been archivedthere can beaccessed bycontacting theRecord Office as wellas through thewebsite.

16 Maynard Rd, Chesterfield, today

46 Stubley Lane, Dronfield, 1950s


Volunteers and TrainingDerbyshire Law Centre continues to provide volunteeringopportunities from its main office at 1 Rose Hill East. Asin previous years we aim to focus on recruiting peoplewho want to develop or update their work skills and orimprove their confidence and self-esteem. However, thisyear we had a number of retirees apply and with nofunding restrictions in place they have made a welcomeaddition to the assessment team.

In September 2015 we recruited six new volunteers, withall six completing the classroom based training and goingon to join the existing team of four. We now routinelyhave at least two volunteers on most days providing thediagnostic assessment process to all new enquiries to theLaw Centre. The session supervisor continues to providereferences for current and past volunteers applying forwork. We take this opportunity to say a big thank you toall the volunteers who have volunteered over the last year.

Volunteers (Past and present 2013-2014)

Carol Davis Jerin John

Vanessa Edwards Tim Mak

Katie France Jewels Orton

Nancy Fox Nadine Trythall

Noelle Hall Isabel Wade

As a Law Centre we continue to seek funding to developand expand the volunteering opportunities we provide.In the meantime Derbyshire Law Centre continues toshow its commitments to volunteers by internallyfunding the project.

Volunteers Assessment team


Volunteer Spotlight on: Noelle HallNoelle approached the Law Centre after she was maderedundant by the organisation where she had workedfor over 19 years. Although the organisation was withinthe advice sector, she described her role on herapplication form as ‘a back room’ role. She hopedvolunteering at the Law Centre would provide her withsome ‘front office’ experience.

Following her redundancy, Noelle decided to movepermanently back to Chesterfield and away from whereher previous role was located. Although she knew somepeople in the area, her volunteering role allowed her tomeet new people and make new friends.

Although Noelle is an experienced administrator herconfidence had been knocked following a number of jobrejections. She has applied for over 200 jobs and hasattended a number of interviews only to be told she

came second. Noelle is realistic and accepts her ageprobably goes against her, but her confidence is knockedeach time it is a no. When asked why she volunteers, herresponse was that it gives her time out from thinkingabout having to look for paid work and provides herwith some perspective on life, as many of the callers arein a worse situation. She also finds the role veryinteresting as no week is ever the same.

Over time, with guidance and support from the sessionsupervisor and other volunteers, Noelle has developedher diagnostic interview skills and is becoming moreconfident when assessing a client’s needs. She is evencoming to terms with the centre’s database!! Noelleherself says, ‘one of the benefits of volunteering at theLaw Centre is that it has reaffirmed that I am a goodworker and get on with people’.

Recently, she has secured and started a part time jobwhich she hopes will lead on to more paid work, even ifthat means she eventually has to leave the Law Centre inthe end.


Comments • Just a heartfelt thank you

• Thanks for help, v muchappreciated

• Would like to thank everyone &adviser for help

• A thousand thank yous

• Very good service, needs moreadvertising

• I would like to thank Ellen for allthe help

• Without Sue's help I wouldn't behere today!

• Very happy to keep my flat.

• A big thank you, very professionalservice felt supported not judgedor patronised

• Would recommend to friends andfamily

• Thank you so much, muchappreciated your help

• I’m very grateful for the help Ireceived

• A speedy solution to a problem Ithought it would never end

• Tremendously helpful, excellentservice

• Helped us manage our budget,very helpful and understanding

• Always felt more positive andhappier after speaking to Sue

• I am more confident in seekingadvice against tough oppositionssuch as the council, if I didn't thenmy family would be homeless.Thank you for your support Steve.

• I felt there was too many variablesand did not proceed

• Very friendly down to earth advice

• All staff very helpful andinformation

• Client dissatisfied but with councilrules rather than the Law Centre

• Massive thank you to you for allyou have done for me in fightingmy corner with my ex bosses. Yourtime has meant so much to meand it is very much appreciated.

Comments andfeedbackClients who have received acasework service are sent afeedback questionnaire. This year91 questionnaires have beenreturned. Of those returned 68%indicated their stress and anxietyhad reduced, 33% indicated theyhad settled or stayed in their homeand 16% had stayed in their workdue to the advice and service theyhad received.

ComplaintsThe number of complaintsregarding the service we provideremains the same, with 2 receivedthis year. Both were investigated inline with our policy and resolvedwithin a number of weeks. Onecomplaint was in relation to anoversight by staff in relation to theequal access of our service, stepshave been taken to prevent thisfrom re-occurring.


Company Information - List of Directors 2015/2016Michael Gordon Chair North East Derbyshire District CouncilMary Honeyben Vice Chair Derby and District Law SocietyAlan Craw Secretary Chesterfield Liberal DemocratsDarren Webber Treasurer Individual member (Deceased 4.7.2016)Councillor Sharon Blank Derbyshire County CouncilCouncillor Howard Borrell Chesterfield Borough CouncilChris Collard Individual memberCouncillor Mary Dooley Bolsover District Council (from 23.7.2015)John Duncan Age Concern Chesterfield and DistrictCouncillor Stuart Ellis Derbyshire County Council (until 11.4.2016)Councillor Jenny Flood Chesterfield Borough CouncilCouncillor Tricia Gilby Derbyshire County Council (from 17.5.2016)Colin Hampton Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ CentresCouncillor Carl Harper Eckington Parish CouncilJohn Morehen Staveley SeniorsCouncillor Kathryn Salt MBE Tibshelf Parish Council (from 18.11.2015)David Shaw Chesterfield Citizens Advice BureauCouncillor Derrick Skinner North East Derbyshire District Council Chloe Small Individual memberMarion Thorpe Touchstone Community Development Ltd (from 28.1.2016) Individual member (until 18.11.2015)Councillor Elaine Tidd Staveley Town Council Jumoke Tuwuru Chesterfield African Caribbean Community AssociationSarah White Individual member (from 28.1.2016)

The Law Centre is a companylimited by guarantee:

2453081

Registered Charity No:702419

Solicitors RegulationAuthority:

Practice No 71302

Auditors:Barber Harrison & Platt,

57-59 Saltergate,Chesterfield, S40 1UL

Bankers:Lloyds TSB, 30 Rose Hill, Chesterfield, S40 1LR

- Where do our enquiries come from?

The Specialist Casework Service1097 complex cases assisted on during this period

- Type of cases

Who do we help?The Law Centre is open 35 hours a week. Most people’sfirst contact is by telephone, although an increasingnumber of people contact us by email via our website aswell as by text, phone and in person.

How many people have we assisted during the year?

During 2015/16, we have:l Advised 4415 callers

l Assisted 1097 clients on complex cases

l Received 639 referrals from other agencies.

Initial legal advice relates to:

Housing28% Hate & Harassment1%

Other12%

Consumer3%

Debt13.5%

Family8.5%

Employment28%

Community Care1%

elfare Benefits W1.5%

Immigration3.5%

Chesterfield41.5%

Bolsover10%

South Derbyshire0.5%

Not stated4%

High Peak5%

Erewash3%

Derby City1%

alley Amber V9%

Derbyshire Dales3%

Outside Derbyshire3%

Derbyshire North East20%

Community Care1%

Debt36%

Employment21% Housing42%


- Age of our clients 8% are under 24 years of age66% are between the ages of 25 and 5026% are older people (Age UK’s definition)

Outcomes achieved for clientsFor our clients we have:

l Concluded 82.5% of all cases successfully

l Secured award/compensation for 70% of ouremployment clients.

l Prevented eviction for 87.5% of all clients that wehave represented at county court duty scheme.

l Prevented homelessness for nearly 96% of tenantsand mortgagees of those we have represented.

l 100% of the families with mortgages who receivedrepresentation and after-court work were notmade homeless.

l Secured accommodation for 49 homeless clientswith no fixed abode.

- Where do our casework clients live?

- Profile of casework clients19% of clients identified themselves having a disability orlong term health condition.

6% defined themselves as BME - Black or from anotherEthnic Minority group.

55.5% of our clients are female.

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Chesterfield40%

Outside Derbyshire0.5%

Erewash4%

alley Amber V9%

Derbyshire Dales3%

High Peak5.5%

Bolsover11%

Derbyshire North East24%

A NF3%


Financial Review2015/16 proved to be a steady year in financial terms.Our unrestricted work raised a small surplus of £2,139.However, a deficit of £6,454 on restricted funds meantthat overall, there was a deficit of £4,315. Restrictedfunds were intentially overspent to use funds that hadbeen carried forward from the previous accounting year.The surplus in our unrestricted fund has been allocatedto our designated funds.

Our priority is to maintain our core specialist legal adviceservice (in housing, debt, community care, employmentand immigration) to the most vulnerable communities inDerbyshire. Core funding is absolutely key to maintainingthis. Core funding enables the Law Centre to attract otherfunds, mainly through contracts and projects.

Our Financial Strategy has been supported by a veryactive Funding Strategy during the year. Ourorganisation has worked hard on attracting new funds,especially by working in partnership with other adviceagencies to take advantage of new European Fundsthrough D2N2 and Sheffield City Region.

2015/16 saw the end of Advice Services TransitionFunding. This had been used to help some core services(particularly employment) to continue after the loss ofLegal Aid Agency funding. Our charged service, whilstsmall, is beginning to pick up a little momentum andsupports the retention of our employment service.

After 10 years, we had to close our Hate Crime service asfunding ceased. This led to a staff redundancy whichwas upsetting for all concerned. We would like to wishSarah Roy the best of futures.

Our Legal Aid Agency (LAA) contracts perform well,although we continue to suffer from clients missingappointments. LAA only funds some of our housingwork. Our housing specialists also provide additionalhousing support through our County Court work andmortgage repossession advice, funded by localauthorities through core grant and Homelessness funds.

Our work on the Money Advice Service project (EMMA),continues apace. The contract funding was temporarilyincreased which gave the organisation additional fundsto provide more services around Debt.

A real highlight for the organisation was the project,supported by the National Lottery through the HeritageLottery Fund, called “Home 4 Good”. This allowed theLaw Centre to explore our education aim more than wehave ever done. We were able to work with newpartners, such as Derbyshire Libraries to explore thehistory and heritage of social housing through oralhistory, photographs and written accounts contributedby local people. There are hopes for more developmentin this type of area.

As always, we are grateful to all the organisations thatfund our services, both directly and indirectly.


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Miscellaneous1.0%

Commissioner - Project funding Police & Crime5.2%

Charged Service Income1.9%

and profit costs)County Court Duty

(Housing and Debt Contract, Legal Aid Agency17.6%

project fundingCouncil - Grant and Derbyshire County18.9%

(Grants and Projects)Borough Council

Chesterfield12.4% - Project Fundingransition FundT

Advice Services6.2%

- Homelessness Prevention EMMA Project 13.9%

- Grant and project Bolsover District Council6.3%

- Grant and project costs N.E. Derbyshire District Council 6.4%

Council - Project Fundingalley Borough Amber V1.3%

- Pennies and Pounds Project Comic Relief2.1%

Lottery Fund Heritage 5.8%

Living Rights Project0.6%

Pro Bono Project Access to Justice0.4%


Information and Resources2%

Premises5%

Administration13%

fing Staf80%

How we spend our money

Total Income 2015/2016

The continued support from Chesterfield BoroughCouncil, Derbyshire County Council, Bolsover DistrictCouncil and North East Derbyshire District Council,despite austerity measures, is essential for thesurvival of our organisation as they provide coregrants. This then enables the Law Centre to retainhigh quality staff, providing an excellent service,and to attract/retain other funding. Thanks also to:

l The Big Lottery

l Comic Relief

l Money Advice Service

l Legal Aid Agency

Thanks to Banner Jones Solicitors, Ripley CVS,Derbyshire Districts CAB and Derbyshire CountyCouncil for allowing us to have offices in theirpremises.

We are also grateful for donations. In 2015/16, theLaw Centre set up PayPal accounts and Donationspages to encourage donations. You can find ourdonations page atwww.mydonate.bt.com/charities/derbyshirelawcentre. Donations are also accepted through ourFacebook page. Gift-Aiding increases the value ofdonations.

John DuncanActing Treasurer

Income and expenditure


OrganisationalMembers50+ Inspired GroupAfrican Caribbean CommunityAssociationAge UK - Derby & DerbyshireAge Concern (Chesterfield & District)Aldecar and Langley Mill Parish CouncilAsian AssociationAult Hucknall Parish CouncilBaha’i Faith CommunityBamford with Thornhill Parish CouncilBelper Town Council Bradwell Parish CouncilBretby Parish CouncilBrimington Disabled ClubBrimington Parish CouncilBurnaston Parish CouncilChesterfield AbilityChesterfield and North East DerbyshireCruse Bereavement CareChesterfield and North East DerbyshirePensioners Action GroupChesterfield (Town Centre) Children’sCentreChesterfield Citizens Advice BureauChesterfield Constituency Labour Party

Keith Brown

Alan Craw

Chris Collard

Andrew Cross

Rachel Driver

David Eccles

Graham Fairs

Patricia Gilby

Councillor Terry Gilby

Mark Grayling

Mike Greenhalf

Linda James

Genet Morley

Kevin Morley

Dennis Mullings

Catherine Muyunda

Jackie Norris

Martin O'Kane

Cameron Philpott

Enid Robinson

Hazel Rotherham

Chloe Small

Y. Sorefan

Reginald Tandy

Marion Thorpe

Margaret Vallins

Tom Vallins

Alison Westray-Chapman

Sarah White

Individual Members


Chesterfield Liberal DemocratsChesterfield Muslim AssociationChesterfield Tinnitus Support GroupChesterfield Volunteer CentreClay Cross Parish CouncilCommunity Mental Health Team -ChesterfieldCross Counties Development TrustDeaf & Hearing Support -ChesterfieldDerby & District Law SocietyDerby Alcohol Advice ServiceDerbyshire Coalition for InclusiveLivingDerbyshire Districts Citizens AdviceBureauDerbyshire Gypsy Liaison GroupDerbyshire Unemployed WorkersCentresDronfield Baha’isEckington and District PensionersAction GroupEckington Parish CouncilElmton with Creswell Parish CouncilFriends of Poolsbrook Country ParkGrassmoor, Hasland and WinsickParish CouncilGuinness Northern Counties

Housing AssociationHartington Upper Quarter ParishCouncilHeanor and Loscoe Town CouncilHeath and Holmewood ParishCouncilHeath Properties TenantsAssociationHulland Ward Parish CouncilLINKS Council for Voluntary ServiceMatlock Town CouncilMiddleton Parish CouncilMuslim Welfare AssociationNorth Derbyshire Community DrugTeamNorth Derbyshire Domestic ViolenceAction GroupNorth Derbyshire Forum for MentalHealth Carers North Derbyshire Women’s AidNorth East Derbyshire DistrictLabour PartyOld Bolsover Town CouncilOur Vision Our FutureOverseal Parish CouncilRelate ChesterfieldRural Action DerbyshireSAIL

Sanctuary Carr-Gomm Society -ChesterfieldShirland and Higham Parish CouncilSight Support DerbyshireSPODAStaveley Seniors ForumStaveley Town CouncilStenson Fields Parish CouncilStonham Housing Association Tibshelf Parish CouncilTontine Road Carers Support GroupTouchstone CommunityDevelopment LtdTRUSTUnion of Shops, Distributive andAllied Workers (Chesterfield)Unison - Chesterfield BoroughCouncilUnison - North East DerbyshireDistrict CouncilUnit 10Unstone Parish CouncilWhitwell Parish CouncilWingerworth Parish CouncilWinster Parish CouncilWirksworth Parish Council


Sue Allard Advice worker (Debt and Housing)Wendy Bell (Administrator – Reception)Sharon Challands Co-ordinator (Office and Resources) Fran Cole Administrator Jane Crossland Administrator Lisa Haythorne Solicitor (Housing, Debt, Discrimination and Specialist Quality Mark Manager) Lorraine Mellors Administrator Tony McIlveen Senior Solicitor (Employment & Immigration)

Andrew Montgomery Advice worker (Housing and Employment)Sarah Roy Project worker (Hate and Harassment - left March 2016) Ellen Taylor Advice worker (Employment) and Project workerSteve Taylor Advice worker (Community Care and Housing)Nikki Tugby Co-ordinator (Front of House). Teresa Waldron Co-ordinator (Partnerships, Projects and Social Policy)

Staff List 2016


Darren Lloyd Webber 1967- 2016

In July this year Darren passed awayafter battling with serious illness. Hehad been a management committeemember for more than 16 years, beingtreasurer for many of those years. Hewas an invaluable member, working

tirelessly on numerous projects and sub-committees on behalf of the law centre.We could always count on his help andadvice. Darren also was a ManagementCommittee representative on the LawCentres Network Executive Committee.

Darren was a great believer in standingup for what was right and helpingpeople in need and we were all veryfortunate to have known him and to

have him as such a committed supporter.He gave up so much of his time to helpboth us and the Law Centre movementgenerally. He is sadly missed by us andwe offer our condolences to his family

and loved ones.

Main office:Derbyshire Law Centre, 1 Rose Hill East, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S40 1NU

01246 550674 Text Box: 0845 833 4252

[email protected]

www.derbyshirelawcentre.org.uk

7802 Designed by North East Derbyshire District Council. Printed on paper made from Elemental Chlorine Free Pulp

Branch officesBolsoverBolsover Library, Church Street, Bolsover, Derbyshire, S44 6HB

BuxtonIn the office of Derbyshire Districts Citizens AdviceBureau, 26 Spring Gardens, Buxton, SK17 6DE

ChesterfieldIn the offices of VHS Fletchers Solicitors/Banner JonesSolicitors, 2 Marsden Street, Chesterfield, S40 1JY

IlkestonIn the office of Derbyshire Districts Citizens Advice,Albion Leisure Centre, East Street, Ilkeston, DE7 5JB

RipleyIn the office of Amber Valley CVS, 33 Market Place, Ripley, Derbyshire, DE5 3HA

StaveleyStaveley Library, Hall Lane, Staveley, Chesterfield, S43 3TP

(Services offered at branches vary according to funding)

@DerbyshireLC

Documents

Empowering Communities - Law Centres