APPENDIX 7
Memorandum submitted by Citizens Advice
in Northern Ireland
CITIZENS ADVICE
Citizens Advice is the largest advice charity
in Northern Ireland working against poverty, and meeting the information
and advice needs of some 200,000 people per year. The Association
has formal links to CAB in England and Wales and close working
relationships with Citizens Advice Scotland. Together the three
Associations constitute the biggest advice network in Europe with
60 years of giving advice and information to the public. Citizens
Advice in Northern Ireland also has close working relationships
with the Dublin based Agency Comhairle with which we operate a
cross border advice project supported by EU funding.
The Association has funding relationships with
24 of N. Ireland's District Councils, and in the 12 months to
March 2003 had a turnover of some £3 million, of which the
Citizens Advice Regional Office accounted for £700,000.
CASEWORK PROFILE
In Northern Ireland, Citizens Advice deals with
some 200,000 enquiries per years 53% of these relate to social
security with Disability Benefits and Income Support the largest
categories. Queries to CAB have more than doubled in the last
10 years. In particular the trend to self assessment in benefits
and the introduction of complex self assessment forms in respect
of Disability Living Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and Job Seekers
Allowance has, along with the Government's policy of means testing
access to benefits, greatly increased the demand for CAB's advice
network. With the Welfare Reform Programme, and cross party support
for means testing and the targeting of benefits, these trends
are clearly set to continue.
ACCESS, INCLUSIVENESS
AND PRINCIPLES
Advice is provided to both main communities
in Northern Ireland, and to minority communities, from 28 main
offices, from some 100 other outlets., and from our website www.citizensadvice.co.uk
by E mail and via the self serve website www.adviceQuideora
Advice is provided within the framework of four
principles. The advice is
— Free at the point of use.
PROGRESS TOWARDS
DEVELOPING A
ROLE FOR
THE POLICE
OMBUDSMAN
In a divided society such as Northern Ireland
with its recent 30 year history of conflict, the Police Ombudsman
has had a very complex and difficult brief in seeking to establish
the independence and impartiality of her office. This is particularly
so in respect of policing, which in many ways has been politicised
over many years, and the office of the Police Ombudsman has been,
from its inception, at the centre of powerful and conflicting
expectations from both communities, political parties and a range
of other stakeholders.
At an early stage we were approached by the
Ombudsman in respect of the use of our offices to provide a neutral
venue for members of the public who wished to make a complaint
against the police but who did not wish to meet the staff of her
office in local police stations. This arrangement, small in the
larger scheme of things, has now been in place for a number of
years and reflects the level of attention to detail which has
been paid to how people approach the Ombudsman to seek help and
advice and how this can be best facilitated. In Northern Ireland
the concept of "neutral space" is an important one in
all urban areas and is also an influence on where Citizens Advice
locates its own offices. It was therefore reassuring to see that
the Office of the Ombudsman displayed an instinctive understanding
of the importance of this at an early stage in its establishment.
As reflected in the Ombudsman's Annual Report for 2003 Table 8,
considerable effort has continued to go in to engaging with voluntary
groups and local communities. This degree of involvement in unusual
in statutory agencies and is most welcome. In many ways much of
CAB's work is generated by the need to assist the public in accessing
public services and the Ombudsman's pro active approach is particularly
necessary for people in social need, members of minority ethnic
groups and the 24% of the Northern Ireland population which suffers
from functional literacy (DENI 1994).
We believe that the Police Ombudsman's office
has successfully established itself as an approachable, impartial
and independent agency in Northern Ireland and that this difficult
and significant achievement owes much to the personal qualities
which the current incumbent has brought to the post.
PERFORMANCE OF
THE OFFICE,
AND EFFICIENCY
AND EFFECTIVENESS
In compiling this response, Citizens Advice
has referred to the 2003 Annual Report published by the Police
Ombudsman's office, and we believe that the range and detail of
information contained in that report confirms the Ombudsman's
commitment to the rnnning of an open and accountable service for
the public in Northern Ireland. Having recently been in correspondence
with a local NDPB about its refusal to publish either an annual
report or a complaints procedure, we are struck by the range of
information provided in respect of objectives, targets, complaints,
key performance indicators ,and the monitoring of equality issues.
This is considerably in excess of many of the reports published
by public bodies in Northern Ireland.
CONCLUSION
Citizens Advice in Northern Ireland has a major
interface with public services, frequently dealing with issues
which have gone wrong and with cases where people have been badly
treated.
In many ways the office of the Police Ombudsman
is a new institution for a new society which is hopefully emerging,—one
which will have a civilian police force. We believe that immense
strides have been made, particularly in establishing the independence
and impartiality which are so central to the success of the role
of any Ombudsman, but which are so crucial in the context of Northern
Ireland.
| 
