The Council has led the development of the City’s Financial Inclusion Strategy. Part of the aim of this is to develop a ‘Community Banking Partnership Service’ that integrates access to services that promote Financial Wellbeing including advice, basic banking, affordable credit, savings, financial education and support around fuel and food poverty.
We have talked to residents through focus groups and events and listened to what they have said about their experiences of and preferences for accessing advice.
Partners have developed a number of online directories including ‘Health Information Prescriptions’, ‘It’s Local Actually’ and the ‘advicebrighton-hove directory’, ensuring that these join up and complement each other.
Advice providers have improved cross referrals between agencies through the use of electronic shared calendars.
The Way in which local advice services are resourced has changed significantly over the last three years with restrictions on some of the traditional funding streams, such as legal aid
Local Volunteers have continued to play a key role in the provision of advice and information
The Library has developed the Council Connect – a volunteer based service that supports residents to get online in local libraries
We have promoted the use of online information and self-help resources alongside the online directories of services that we have developed
6 local advice agencies and over 30 frontline services worked in effectively in partnership to deliver Financial Healthchecks to financially residents as part of the Warm Homes Healthy People campaigns of 2012 and 2013.
Advice providers have worked closely with the Council to help inform the development of the local Council Tax Reduction and Discretionary Social Fund Schemes