## **tCAS ANNUAL REPORT 2023**
In the same way as, other charities are facing a ‘hostile’ and difficult environment, tCAS is seeking to help clients in increasingly challenging circumstances. However, we have seen God at work in what we do – when we ask in Jesus name we are finding that God has ‘intervened’ on our client’s behalf. This is contained in the Appendix.
## _**In Colchester and Ipswich our main activities are as follows:**_
## _**Benefits**_
We help the clients with their benefit applications to try and ensure that they get the benefit that they are intitled to without delay and without having to ‘appeal’. Where we haven’t been involved at the first-stage we help with what is called the Mandatory Reconsideration. This is getting increasingly difficult, possibly because the political climate is becoming more and more hostile to ‘welfare’. However, we were successful at our first Tribunal where the Judge overturned the DWP’s refusal to give the award and the client got over £11,000 in back benefit payment because the case had taken so long to get to Court. Interestingly the DWP weren’t even represented at the Hearing!
_**Using AI to complete PIP Forms and do Mandatory Considerations**_ The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) recommends that Advisors include Case Law, both in the Application Form and at MR and Appeal. So, we have started to use a beta version of an AI program which has been developed for us, in order to complete the initial Application and construct MR and Appeal evidence. We are now running a Project to test the efficacy and effectiveness of the program. Interestingly the AI can search previous cases that have gone through the Courts, so that we are able to include these in our initial submission!
_**Forced eviction**_ (using the ‘no fault’ legislation) We help the clients engage with the bureaucratic process of registering for accommodation. In two instances we were even successful in getting the family moved straight into social/council housing. It seems (in ways we don’t quite understand) God intervenes and the miraculous happens! Another client who was evicted onto the street has been housed in a brand-new house owned by a Social Housing organisation is celebrating their first year in social housing. Again, we give thanks to God because this should not/could not happen in the current context! However, in general the situation is so dire that sometimes all we can do is explain the process to them and support them in their application. We know that Councils are struggling because of the lack of affordable social housing and it will require the Govt to set a policy of allowing social housing associations to build more affordable houses. However, given the ‘black hole’ in the budget, the prospects are not good.
1
## _**Debt**_
We help clients deal with the debt which has most often accrued because of circumstances outside their control (i.e., eviction, waiting for UC payments, abuse, job loss). Very, very rarely is it profligate spending. Anyone on UC has to have a modern Smart phone because DWP requires all communication between them and the claimant to be done through their ‘Journal’. The environment is hostile and own client whop went to the toilet and missed a call from the Job Coach was sanctioned with a £290 fine. We helped them challenge the decision and got it reduced to £90!.
We have even been able to get debts voided where there has been domestic abuse. We have a good ongoing working relationship with StepChange who handle the debt management process and choose the best option for the client and manage the interactions with the creditors for them.
## _**Immigration**_
We don’t ‘advise’ on immigration situations and yet we have had several clients with ‘right to reside’ issues. We signpost them to specialist charities and we deal with the associated problems the clients face. Again the (political) environment is becoming more toxic (despite the change in Govt and care for ‘immigrants’ (of any kind) is limited. One such person has now been granted ‘the right to reside’ as a refugee and is now volunteering with tCAS!
Perhaps given the toxicity of this subject it might be worth pointing out that anyone seeking sanctuary as a refugee can enter _any_ country and seek asylum. Therefore, someone crossing the Channel is not an ‘illegal’ _until_ their application has been rejected. It has been a Home Office policy to restrict the number of applications conducted, which in turn means the ‘backlog’ has grown exponentially. Migration is at all-time high in part because we have had to allow people to come into the country to fill the gaps caused by Europeans leaving the UK after Brexit. In addition, we permits Students to come in on a visa to study in this Country. Sadly, the previous Govt stopped them bringing their families (to ‘pretend’ that immigration had been reduced) with the consequence that less students came and communities lost the income from the family spending money in the local economy. The Universities are now facing a financial crisis.
There is a very interesting exchange in a Home Office Committee hearing on the subject of refugee seeking asylum which is worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQvh6qDrOMw.
_**Unfair dismissal/Zero Hours workers**_ As in previous years, Clients who face difficulties at work and that come to us, have often been unfairly treated either because the ‘boss’ doesn’t know the
2
regulations around employment rights; the organisation is seeking (unlawful) ways to reduce the workforce or the contract is framed to disadvantage the worker. We are not solicitors, rather we refer to ACAS for good practice and help the client present a reasonable defence against any discrimination. The Labour Govt initially promised to change Employment Law to give more protection to employees, however, against a background of lobbying by businesses the legislation is likely to be watered down. Currently someone has to have worked for an employer for 2 years _before_ the get full employment rights. Those on zero hours contracts _never_ get that protection.
## _**Family crisis**_
Ipswich tCAS has access in Ipswich to a pro-bono firm of solicitors who help deal with family breakdowns, custody arrangements and parental access. In Colchester, we are limited to helping with child maintenance arrangements and coercive debt.
## **Summary**
## _**Financial and Emotional impact**_
Each year the activities of tCAS in serving clients has, we estimate, added well over £120,000 into the family budgets of our clients this year. This is achieved through a combination of debt (relief), cancelled coercive debts, benefit awards and back-payments, avoiding job loss and instituting child maintenance payments. This means that tCAS has a very positive financial impact on the lives of families. Clients often report back to the organisations that have referred them that, tCAS has, or is making a huge difference to their lives. We make it clear that we rely on Father God in all that we do and we aim to show HIS love to them.
## _**Social action and Social Justice**_
Many of our clients face more than one of these issues such that their cases are complex and multi-faceted. Thankfully we have developed a process for identifying and untangling the multiple issues a client faces and we are then able to tackle them in a logical and effective way. Whilst we classify our activities as ‘social action’; increasingly we are engaged in ‘social justice’ as we ‘fight’ for our client’s rights. We take on social justice issues where we have: the capability, competence and access to influence. However, perhaps given the effect of the politics in the USA, we are finding that Churches and Christians in general, don’t recognise the need to help those in need. It’s a sad reflection on our ‘gospel’ message and how we see our place in the world around us.
## _**Support not just information**_
3
tCAS has established its ethos as an organisation that, above all, provides ‘support’ (including ‘advice’ and the ‘information’) to help the client navigate their way through the difficult situations they face. Many of our clients face the world with mental health issues (often caused by abuse), dyslexia, dyspraxia, anxiety and in some extreme cases: innumeracy and illiteracy. We choose in God’s strength to make ourselves available for clients, seeing their plight as something God would want us to deal with.
## _**Hope Church**_
tCAS is now established in Hope Church, Ipswich and is increasingly operating beyond the church into the local community. It deals with similar situations albeit serving an even more disadvantaged community than Colchester. Trevor Stafford who leads tCAS at Hope has now ‘recruited’ another volunteer and the work is expanding month on month. tCAS has been incorporated into their five-fold social action ministry and benefits from administrative support through the church as well as using the café to host clients and having a room to meet clients in private.
## **Training/IT and Office equipment/Office staff**
## _**IT**_
We have been able through the money that we have received to add three more laptop computers to our inventory, and this has made a huge difference to our productivity and ability to serve each client simultaneously. We have as a charity access to Microsoft’s Office suite and so all our computers have the programs on them.
_Office equipment_
We have added an office-level scanner/printer which has enabled us to copy client’s forms and scan documents online.
## _Training_
We have attended face to face and online training as well as accessing e- Learning modules. We have been able to pay for this out of the contributions of our donors.
## _Staff_
We have been blessed by the addition in Colchester of a volunteer Office Administrator who is literally a ‘Godsend’ - Marta now manages our online database, deals with client forms and manages the charity account recording. In addition, we are training Michael who is visually impaired to take the initial client ‘Enquiry’ using computer based software that enables him to speak into his laptop and as well have documents read to him. Bushra has joined us and as well as being an ‘Enquirer’, she is taking on responsibility for the accounts.
## _**Relationship with other charities**_
4
We have good relationships with Child First charity, The Next Chapter, StepChange and we are making connections with other charities such as Surviving Economic Abuse and two Immigration charities.
## **Sharing the Gospel**
tCAS exists as a social action charity with the intention of helping people find relief from the various crisis that they may face. However, it has a larger and more eternal purpose and that is to introduce people to the God that loves us and gave himself for us in our eternal crisis. We find that through what we do to help clients, we earn the right and have the opportunity to preach the Gospel of Christ to people who may have had no previous experience of God’s grace and mercy. Many have had no contact with God before, coming through generations that didn’t habitually go to church or Sunday school. Often this is their first contact with a loving God and through what we do for them they are open to hearing the Gospel. We are on the front-line of evangelism and tCAS is the means by which we can introduce people to an experience of a loving God in action. We welcome them to Foundation Church and we help them to find a faith in God.
Encouragingly, almost all of our clients, willingly accept the offer of us praying for them when we are with them. Often this brings them to tears as they hear us petitioning God on their behalf. We now make it a practice to pray with a client _as soon as we engage with them_ (as long as they give us permission). This introduces them to God and makes it clear that we need Him in order to help them. We pray with them at any point in a meeting with them if we see the need/opportunity to invite God into the situation and we pray with them again at the end. This has had a really meaningful impact on our clients. A growing number of clients have joined church programmes introducing them to the Gospel and gone on to attend church.
P.S. We no longer invite people to have a Faith Friend, instead we seek to introduce them early on, to a church programme where they can learn/hear about Jesus for themselves.
## **The need for more Volunteers**
One aspect we need to be more effective at is in recruiting, encouraging volunteers. Hope has begun to see interest growing amongst the church congregation and in Colchester we have our new Administrator. However, if we are to meet the need of a growing number of clients being referred by other organisations, we will need additional people to be trained as: ‘Enquirers’ – those that have the initial meeting with client to find out about their situation; ‘Advisors’ – who are trained to determine the Action Plan to deal with the various issues facing the client; Case Workers who travel along with the client turning the Action Plan into Next Steps. Administrative support to the front-line staff and individuals that will sit and pray with clients. The roles may appear daunting and
5
volunteers will need to learn how to find the information they require. However, in this online world, knowledge and information is only a (Google, Welfare Rights Handbook or gov.uk, click away) and where the information is complex, there is Supervisory support at hand and behind that the ‘deep’ knowledge of CPAG and NHAS that we can tap into. What volunteers need more than anything is: a belief that: God wants to be involved in everyone’s life (as in Matt 5 and 6); compassion for the person opposite you; a non-judgemental attitude; a desire to bring God into people’s situations and a willingness to pray with people. There is an expression: ‘winning hearts and minds’ – tCAS aims to do both: the Gospel in action, showing them a God who cares and wants them to be reconciled to Him.
## **Finally, our donors**
So, once again, our grateful thanks to those that support tCAS in its outreach activities. Our annual budget expenditure is increasing year on year and this year it will be around £3,800 and in 2024 we estimate it will be over £4,000; a meaningful proportion of which goes on fixed costs i.e., CharityLog (our online database), Survey Monkey – used for our training hub, website and email accounts, membership fees of professional organisations (i.e., CPAG, NHAS and Advice UK). Other variable costs include: training, stationery, scanner payments and IT hardware. As we continue to grow both in Colchester and Ipswich so the costs increase as well. We need to undertake CPD, send people on training courses and to keep abreast through Conferences and meetings of the many changes in legislation and processes.
God bless you
Tony Mann Founder of tCAS 15[th] Oct 2023
6
## **Appendix**
## **Background to the work of tCAS**
The tCAS Trustees thought that it would be appropriate to explain the context and environment in which tCAS operates. The factors affecting tCAS have not changed much – however, the
consequences are even more sever for clients.
## _**Sickness**_
When someone in the household becomes isn’t required at work and is on a zerohours contract they aren’t paid which means the household income is constantly fluctuating . If they are ill for any period of time they rely on Statutory Sick Play which as people found during Covid, isn’t enough to live on. This can lead to an inability to pay utility bills, overdrafts, debts and rent arrears.
## _**Low Wages, Zero hours and Housing Costs**_
The Minimum Wage and Zero hours contracts cause immense difficulty for people on low incomes; the freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates had been in place since 2016 until it was raised in January 2020 in line with inflation and has since been frozen again. Meanwhile rents have soared, particularly in commuter city like Colchester and the Local Housing Rate (LHR) isn’t enough to cover the original rent, let alone such a large increase. One client’s rent went up from £650 to £800 whilst their rent allowance stayed static.
Shelter, the Homeless Charity reported that: “The cost of a modest family rental is now out of reach for people claiming housing allowance in 91% of local areas in England … and it only covers the cheapest 30% of homes in each local area .. Even these renters are in employment but need housing benefits to bridge the gap between low-paid jobs and high rents. LHA has now been frozen again (at March 2020 levels) while rents around the country have risen rapidly”. Renters have to cover the deficit from other sources; often taking out loans.
## _**Universal Credit**_
Many people assume that someone on benefit gets to keep all the money they are given. However the Universal Credit earnings taper rate is currently 55%. Simply put, this means that for every £1 a UC claimant earns over their work allowance (£358pm) their Universal Credit will be reduced by 55p which is automatically deducted from their Universal Credit payments. In effect this is the highest rate tax anyone has to pay! Additionally, anyone who becomes unemployed and applies for UC has to wait 5 weeks, _from when their claim is accepted,_ before they get their first payment. Often these people have been on a weekly wage and don’t have five weeks money to cover their household bills, including rent. It used to be the case that a UC claimant could apply for an loan. This facility has now been withdrawn and whilst they can apply for an ‘Advance’ on their _first_ payment, they can’t get anything else else if they get into difficulty
7
down the road. So, when they are hit with increasing fuel bills, higher rent, emergencies (i.e., car repairs) there is no safety net. Usually the fall into arrears and then debt.
## _**Private renting**_
The statistics are alarming: from two million in 2000, the number of households in private rented accommodation reached around 4.83 million in 2023; almost 1.3 million private renters in England – one in seven, had their rent increased in the last month, a new report from Shelter reveals. One in 12 private renters in England – equivalent to 941,000 people - are currently under threat of eviction, according to new research by Shelter. It is estimated that 1.9 million private renters in England now rely on housing benefits. There is very little social or ‘council’ provided housing available or being built. Landlords are (still) able to legally evict a tenant by merely issuing a Section 21 which presents the Courts with a mandatory requirement to grant the eviction, despite the previous Govt promising to legislate to change this law. The new Labour Govt is under immense pressure form landlords not to go ahead with the legislation and if the do; without providing much more social housing, the likelihood is that landlords will sell-up – increasing the housing stock for buys but severely reducing the private rented sector.
Councils are now requiring people who are facing eviction to go through the traumatic experience of: going to court, ignoring the legally enforceable court order to leave, waiting until the landlord gets a High Court writ and appoints bailiffs and even then, they sometimes have to wait until the day the bailiffs come - the TV show ‘Can’t Pay won’t Pay’ crudely shows how demeaning the process is. They are then put in temporary accommodation which can be a Bed and Breakfast, or (run down) Guest House/Hotel. Waiting for suitable accommodation can then take up to 3 years.
## _**Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Limited Capability for Work (LCW)**_
Increasingly the DWP is operating what is ostensibly, a hostile approach to benefit awards. Aside from the long wait to get onto UC, getting awarded a PIP benefit and LCW can be emotionally traumatic. The PIP statistics in 2022 released by the DWP show that mandatory reconsiderations success rates have continued to plummet, with now barely a quarter (24%) now getting a changed award. Analysis of DWP and Tribunal statistics show that seven out of ten people who appealed in court against a decision to deny them disability benefits were successful. In total, more than 293,000 people across the UK have overturned a government decision at tribunal in the past three years. Appeal can often take up to a year to come to Tribunal. The Assessment is outsourced to private
8
companies – which keeps the DWP at arm’s length from the process. Often a Tribunal will find that the Assessor has written a biased or inadequate Report which enables the DWP to reject the claim or that the Decision Maker has ignored the statutory requirements and case law. The picture is the same for people applying for LCW – they face a difficult and increasing adversarial process.
It is extremely hard to qualify for the LCWRA group which protects disabled people from having to look for work. Those who do qualify can get up £450 additional income. With the new Labour Govt now in place it seems as though the benefit system will get even harsher. PIP is reviewed and the Treasury has suggested that welfare benefits will be reduced and curtailed.
## _**Coercive Debt**_
‘Coercive debt’ is considered as one of the manifestations of Domestic Abuse. It involves the perpetrator making the other person in the relationship take out credit in their own name for the benefit of the abuser. This can leave the victim with often huge debts, CCJs against their name, anxiety and depression, an inability to trust people and a credit rating that prevents them getting future credit long after the abuse.
9
||**Charity Name**
**tCAS - The Christain Advice Service**|**Charity Name**
**tCAS - The Christain Advice Service**|**Charity Name**
**tCAS - The Christain Advice Service**||**1187344**|**CC16a**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**For the period**
**from**|Period start date
**1st January 2023**|**To**|Period end date
**31st December 2023**|||
||||||||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||||
|**A1 Receipts**
Donations Received
**3,000**
interest
**13**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**3,013**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total receipts_ 3,013**
**A3 Payments**
Marketing
**-**
Database
**835**
Subscriptions
**757**
Software
**616**
Internet
**250**
Office
**240**
Office Equipment
**367**
Hardware
**917**
Insurance
**84**
Bank Charges
**60**
Support Services
**58**
**_Sub total_ 4,184**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total payments_ 4,184**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ - 1,171**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**-**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**8,057**
**_Cash funds this year end_ 6,886**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**||**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Restricted**
**funds**|**to the nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**3,000**
**13**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**3,013**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**3,013**
**-**
**835**
**757**
**616**
**250**
**240**
**367**
**917**
**84**
**60**
**58**
**4,184**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**4,184**
**- 1,171**
**-**
**8,057**
**6,886**||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
||||**-**|**3,000**||**5,000**|
||||**-**|**13**||**-**|
||||**-**|**-**||**-**|
||||**-**|**-**||**-**|
||||**-**|**-**||**-**|
||||**-**|**-**||**-**|
||||**-**|**-**||**-**|
||||**-**|**-**||**-**|
||||**-**|**3,013**||**5,000**|
||||||||
||||**-**|**-**|||
||||**-**|**-**||**-**|
||||**-**|**-**||**-**|
||||||||
||||**-**|**3,013**||**5,000**|
||||||||
||||**-**|**-**||**372**|
||||**-**|**835**||**835**|
||||**-**|**757**||**50**|
||||**-**|**616**||**-**|
||||**-**|**250**||**376**|
||||**-**|**240**||**301**|
||||**-**|**367**||**54**|
||||**-**|**917**||**84**|
||||**-**|**84**||**89**|
||||**-**
**-**|||**60**
**58**|
||||**-**|**4,184**||**2,161**|
||||||||
||||**-**|**-**|||
||||**-**|**-**|||
||||**-**|**-**||**-**|
||||||||
||||**-**|**4,184**||**2,161**|
||||||||
|||**-**|**-**|**- 1,171**||**2,839**|
|||**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|
|||**-**|**-**|**8,057**||**5,218**|
|||**-**|**-**|**6,886**||**8,057**|
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**|**Details**
CAF Bank Account
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**to nearest £**
**6,886**
**-**
**-**
**6,886**
OK
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**|**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
OK
**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**|**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||OK|
|||||**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**||
||||**-**||
||||**-**||
||||**-**||
||||**-**||
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
|Signature|Print Name
Anthony H Mann|Date of
approval|
|---|---|---|
||Anthony H Mann|20th October 202|
Waclaw K Zablocki
2Chh October202