Neil Bateman’s Consultancy Services

Consultancy Image

My consultancy services include…

  • Welfare rights casework and advocacy, particularly in complex cases and at all levels of the social security appeals system – including benefit checks for service users
  • Second tier welfare rights advice and support for front line staff – empowering them to tackle their service users' benefit problems. You can purchase a regular service from me.
  • Consultancy and expert witness services on social security matters for solicitors – for details, see the Services for Solicitors page.
  • Helping landlords tackle housing benefit problems (e.g delays, overpayments), benefit advice on eligible rent levels and maximising tenants' benefit incomes.
  • Auditing and reviewing advice services, and establishing quality and performance systems and strategies for improvement. I have my own audit tools and processes, specially designed for welfare rights work which evaluation the crucial matters for giving good quality advice and effective results. At a time when advice services face unprecedented funding cuts, developing a strategy and identifying critical success factors are essential for services to survive. I can help you with these.
  • Advice and advocacy about community care law.
  • Research into welfare rights practice and policy.
  • Maximising incomes by establishing and managing benefit take-up initiatives.
  • Writing and editing articles, leaflets, books and website content – making benefit rights accessible.
  • Advice and help for voluntary organisations and local authorities to make services benefit efficient – for example, changing accommodation from registered to unregistered care status and setting up shared ownership schemes.
  • Influencing social security policy and administration; lobbying for change.