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Greater Manchester Law Centre Spirit Story - Free advice to help people navigate the system

10 Jan 2017 - 10:50 by helen.walker

On Tuesday 6th December, the newly opened Greater Manchester Law Centre held an Employment Support Allowance (ESA) Appeals Service session in Moss Side. People have their needs assessed by a volunteer prior to the session and appointments are booked for cases such as being ineligible for ESA following a Work Capability Assessment or a declined appeal. Staff find that there is a lot of confusion about the different stages of the process.

They had seven bookings for this session on 6th December. Reception volunteers speak to the users in the first instance and they then see volunteer experienced welfare rights advisers. At this time, the service was run by volunteers with no paid staff. There are usually three volunteers on reception, the volunteer centre manager, four volunteer advisers, and a supervising welfare rights person.

Open since September 2016, the Greater Manchester Law Centre also has solicitors offering free advice coming in when they can, usually once a week, to help people with a wide range of enquiries about all benefit issues, family law, employment law, probate, housing and tax. They also campaign around access to legal services and provide training.

"The main problem people face is not understanding what they can do if their ESA application has been refused but they themselves know they are not fit enough to work. The Centre provides free advice to help people navigate the system and to be aware of their rights." Norma Turner

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