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.
Click here to read my blog about the benefits sytem and welfare reform
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 UK England: Advice factsheets
- Age UK and Help the Aged Scotland: Advice factsheets
- 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
- Date calculator for checking benefit backdating or overpayments
- Care To Learn: Help with childcare costs for young parents aged 16+ who are in learning
- Gov.UK: Benefits, tax credits and other information plus online claims
- Disability Rights UK
- Electronic Immigration Network: Public resources page of this useful website
- Govan Law Centre: Excellent Scots law resources about housing, employment, debt, benefits, etc
- 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
- 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
- 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!
- Say no to 0870: Geographical equivalents for 0870 and 0800 numbers, useful for mobile phone calls to DWP & HMRC
- Shelternet: Housing advice
- HM Courts & Tribunals Service: Information about social security and other tribunals
- 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
Benefit 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
- Border Agency: Immigration law & policy
- Acts of Parliament
- Statutory Instruments
- Supereme Court Decided Cases
- UK Statute law database: Excellent government site
Other legal resources
- Infolaw Lawfinder: Searchable catalogue of UK legal materials
- Legal resources in the UK & Ireland: Website maintained by Delia Venables
Official guidance
- DWP: Decision Makers Guide
- DWP: Agents, Appointees, Attorneys and Deputies Guide
- DWP: Information for local authority HB/CTB staff
- HM Revenue and Customs: Tax Credit Guidance Manual for staff
Other advice resources
- DWP: Press releases
- Dumfries Welfare Rights: guides and discussion board
- National Minimum Wage
- HM Revenue and Customs: Tax Credits info
- Ipswich County Court Advice and Representation Service: A successful pro bono advice scheme
- 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
- There are many; here are a few:
- Hertfordshire
- Glasgow
- Newcastle
- Lancashire
Some social policy and research resources
- DWP: Research and Statistics
- Community Health profiles
- HM Revenue and Customs: Tax Credit statistics
- 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
- Office for National Statistics: Nomisweb (labour market statistics)
- 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 tell me 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
- States of Guernsey: Social security
- 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
- World Law Guide