Share your views on Social Welfare and Advice Services

Cheshire West and Chester Council is inviting people to have their say on Social Welfare and Advice Services in the borough.

The eight-week consultation will run from Wednesday, 20 January to Wednesday, 17 March 2021.

The Council provides Social Welfare Advice Services across the borough to ensure residents have information, support and advice about benefits, housing matters, debt and money management, employment rights and redundancy, as well as social care related issues.

The pandemic and impact of social distancing has led to an increase in the number of people receiving such advice online and over the phone.

Now, the Council wants to know whether these methods can be used more effectively in the future and if new approaches to accessing social welfare and advice need to be considered. This could mean a reduction in the number of existing offices currently located across Chester, Ellesmere Port, Winsford and Northwich and see the development of local bases and community access points to include foodbanks and work zones.

The Council want to maximise resource to ensure there are varied points of access to services closer to home, improving equity of support across west Cheshire.

The Council wants to help people to get the services they need, close to where they live.

The aim of the consultation is to shape future services to meet the needs of people in the borough. By updating the social welfare and advice services the Council and its partners is looking at things like – free telephone advice, one-to-one support in community venues such as libraries, GP surgeries and leisure centres and a greater role for the voluntary sector in providing support.

The Council and its partners want to develop a range of services that are available and suited to the needs of all residents of Cheshire West and Chester.

CLICK HERE for the full article and links to consultation.