Here are some web links for welfare rights work advice and policy work. I often refer to these during my training and in my articles, so I've collected them in one place for others to use. Please tell me if any of these links don’t work.
Please let me know about other useful websites. These are links to external websites and I have no control over or responsibility for the content of these websites and inclusion of a link on this page does not imply any recommendation or endorsement.
Websites with information resources for advice work
- Action for Blind People: Useful resources about benefits & visual impairment
- Advicekit: Manchester City Council's innovative on-line advice service
- Advicenow: Accessible information about a wide range of legal rights
- Age Concern England: Advice factsheets
- Age Concern and Help the Aged Scotland: Advice factsheets
- Benefits in Mind: Neath Mind's excellent site about benefits and mental health
- Benefit fraud legal resources: Excellent site by Garden Court Chambers
- Care and Health Law: By social care and health law trainer and consultant Belinda Schwehr
- Carers UK: Information about benefits and carers' rights
- Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion: Useful publications and information on welfare to work issues
- Child Poverty Action Group
- Citizens Advice Adviceguide: Information about a wide range of rights
- Citizens Advice Scotland Adviceguide
- Community Legal Advice: Leaflets about a range of legal rights
- Consumer Direct: Consumer rights advice
- Coventry Law Centre: Employment rights leaflets (also about other subjects)
- Date calculator for checking benefit backdating or overpayments
- Education Maintenance Allowances
- Care To Learn: Help with childcare costs for young parents aged 16+ who are in learning
- DIAL UK: Factsheets
- DirectGov: Benefits, tax credits and other information
- DirectGov: Make online claims for benefits
- Disability Alliance
- Electronic Immigration Network: Public resources page of this useful website
- Govan Law Centre: Excellent Scots law resources about housing, employment, debt, benefits, etc
- Greater Manchester Low Pay Unit: Factsheets about employment rights
- Healthy Start: Advice about what it is and who qualifies
- HMRC Adjudicator's Office: For complaints about HMRC service and discretionary decisions (eg refusal to waive a tax credit overpayment)
- Immigration Advisory Service
- Independent Review Service: Social Fund reviews and related matters
- Institute of Mental Health Law (Dave Sheppard Associates): Excellent info about mental health law
- Legal Action Group
- Leasehold Advisory Service: Legal rights of residential leaseholders (e.g.service charges)
- LHA Direct: Local Housing Allowances for each local authority/Broad Rental Market Area
- Scots Legal Action Group
- Mencap: Factsheets
- Multikulti: Rights leaflets in thirteen languages
- National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers
- National Debtline: Useful factsheets and self help packs
- Northern Ireland Law Centre: Northern Ireland social welfare law resources
- Refugee Council: Publications for advisers (includes useful statistics)
- Rights Advice Scotland: For local authority welfare rights advisers in Scotland
- Rightsnet: News, discussions and resources for welfare rights work. The world's greatest welfare rights website!
- Rightsnet’s useful links
- Rightsnet Toolkit: Comprehensive benefits, tax credits & child support resources
- Say no to 0870: Geographical equivalents for 0870 and 0800 numbers, useful for mobile phone calls to DWP & HMRC
- Shelternet: Housing advice
- Tribunals Service: Information about social security and other tribunals
- TUC: Commission on vulnerable employment
- Veterans Agency: Information about War Pensions, etc
Computer software and on-line calculators for welfare rights work
- Lisson Grove Benefits Program: Benefits calculation software
- Ferret Information Systems: Benefits calculation and information software
- QuickCalc Calculators for benefits
- DWP: On-line Pension Credit calculator
- Rights Advice Scotland: Online Pension Credit & HB/CTB calculator
Benefit Claim forms
- DWP: Printable benefit claim forms
- HM Revenue and Customs: Claim form for Tax Credits
- Pension Credit and Retirement Pension: claim forms
Legislation and Caselaw
- British and Irish Legal Information Institute: Caselaw (esp High Court and Court of Appeal) and legislation
- Upper Tribunal/Social Security & Child Support Commissioner’s decisions
- Daily Law Notes: Summaries of all cases in the higher Courts
- DWP: Social security legislation, caselaw and internal guidance
- DWP: Law Volumes
- DWP: Neligan's Digest of Upper Tribunal/Commissioner's Decisions
- DWP: Housing and Council Tax Benefit information
- Eur-Lex: European Union legislation, caselaw & much more
- Home Office: Immigration law & policy
- OPSI: Acts of Parliament
- OPSI: Statutory Instruments
- House of Lords: Judgements
- Incorporated Council of Law Reporting: Free law report summaries
- Rightsnet's collection of Commissioner's/Upper Tribunal Decisions
- The Times Law Reports
- UK Statute law database: Excellent government site
Other legal resources
- Infolaw Lawfinder: Searchable catalogue of UK legal materials
- Law Links: On line legal research site at the University of Kent
- Lexis Nexis: Some free legal resources
- Legal resources in the UK & Ireland: Website maintained by Delia Venables
Official guidance
- DWP: Social security legislation, caselaw and internal guidance
- DWP: Decision Makers Guide
- DWP: Agents, Appointees, Attorneys and Deputies Guide
- DWP: Information for local authority HB/CTB staff
- HM Revenue and Customs: Code of Practice on Tax Credit Overpayments (COP26)
- HM Revenue and Customs: Tax Credit Guidance Manual for staff
- Department of Health: Residential care charges guidance for local authorities
- Department of Health: Fairer Charging guidance
- Department for Children, Schools and Families: Legislation & guidance on care leavers' rights
- Department of Health: Fair Access to Care Services guidance
- DCLG: Homelessness guidance and information
- DCLG: Guidance to social landlords on preventing rent possession and evictions
- Ministry of Justice: Pre-action protocol for rent arrears cases
- Ministry of Justice: Mortgage Arrears Pre Action Protocol
Other advice resources
- DWP: Press releases
- Dumfries Welfare Rights: guides and discussion board
- EAGA: Insulation & draughtproofing grants
- HM Revenue and Customs: National Minimum Wage
- HM Revenue and Customs: Tax Credit leaflets
- HM Revenue and Customs: Tax Credits info
- Ipswich County Court Advice and Representation Service: A successful pro bono advice scheme
- Jobslink: Directory of grant making charities
- Low Income Tax Reform Group: Advice and campaigns about tax issues affecting people on a low income
- Information and claim forms for help with health costs
- Tax Aid: Advice on tax issues for people on low incomes
- Write to Them: A website for emailing MPs, MEPs, MSPs, etc
Some local authority welfare rights websites with useful resources
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There are many; here are a few:
- Hertfordshire
- Glasgow
- Newcastle
- Lancashire
- Manchester
Some social policy and research resources
- Census 2001
- DCSF: Statistics
- DWP: Research and Statistics
- Community Health profiles
- HM Revenue and Customs: Tax Credit statistics
- HM Revenue and Customs: Wealth distribution statistics (depressing reading)
- Institute for Fiscal Studies: Research about benefits and tax
- Institute for Public Policy Research
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- New Economics Foundation: Fascinating stuff
- New Policy Institute: More reports and analysis about poverty
- DCLG: Statistics
- DCLG: LA housing management practice(includes research on rent arrears and evictions)
- DCLG: Local Deprivation Index 2004 (including ward level data)
- Office for National Statistics: Nomisweb (labour market statistics)
- Office for National Statistics: Focus on Social Inequalies
- Office for National Statistics: Neighbourhood Statistics
- Poverty UK: Indicators about poverty & inequality
- Refugee Council: Research and policy
- Shelter: Research and statistics
- Workhouses: Let's not forget why we have a welfare state
Some international Welfare Rights links (please about others)
- Adva Centre: Israeli welfare rights group
- Combat Poverty Agency: Ireland
- Citizens Information Board: Government of Ireland body supporting advice and advocacy
- FLAC: Free Legal Advice Centres (another example of the rich tapestry of welfare rights services in Ireland)
- The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed
- Jersey Citizens Advice: Compare how the system differs, Channel Islands are not part of the UK
- States of Guernsey: Social security
- Isle of Man: Social security, yet another jurisdiction
- Northern Ireland Dept for Social Development
- National Organisation of Social Security Claimant Representatives: USA
- National Welfare Rights Network: Australia
- Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty LawUSA
- National Center for Law and Economic Justice: USA
- Povnet: Canada
- Social Security Advisory Service: USA
- Social security systems in OECD countries: a detailed explanation and analysis
- Summaries about benefits systems in many countries: by US Social Security Administration
- Workfare Fight: Danish site with many international links
- World Law Guide