Annual Review 2005
Chair's Report
Although this report covers the period from April 2004 to March 2005 it is difficult not to mention an important event from the summer of 2005: Rochdale Law Centre finally got new premises! After years of searching we found an ideal building at 15 Drake Street. It is as central as our previous premises on Smith Street. We bought it with the support of Rochdale Council, Rochdale Development Agency and Legal Services Commission (LSC). The LSC has also given us a grant to refurbish the building. On behalf of the Law Centre I would like to thank all of them for their help. Also thanks to Ian Mann at Temperley Taylor Solicitors for assisting our law centre in buying the premises, to David Tetlow of Speartech Services for overseeing the refurbishment work and to Beechcroft for doing the work.
Our new building is currently being refurbished. The staff will move into it when most of this work is completed. The new premises give us the possibility of improving our service for the community. We have more space on Drake Street than we had at Smith Street. This is beneficial both for the clients, the staff and our volunteers. Thanks to the Legal Services Commission we have also been able to get a new telephone system, new furniture and some extra computers.
Another important event took place on 24th May 2005. Rochdale Law Centre was given a new national Race Equality award as the best legal team for small and medium firms (25 partners or fewer) and not-for-profit organisations. This is a new award launched this year by the Law Society and the Commission for Racial Equality. Rochdale Law Centre was also highly commended in the category "Best service provider".
However, back to the period covered in this annual review. Our board decided in January 05 to apply to Rochdale Council for funding for extra immigration workers, as there had been a decline of qualified immigration workers in the Rochdale area. Unfortunately, the Council was not able to make a grant for this purpose. As a result our law centre is not able to meet the demand for immigration and asylum legal work. For months we have had long waiting lists for clients to see our immigration solicitors. We have therefore resubmitted our application to Rochdale Council for the next financial year.
Rochdale Law Centre has been active in the national "Access to Justice Campaign". This is a campaign to secure enough legal aid money for civil cases/ social law (non criminal cases). It appears that the Department of Constitutional Affairs has taken notice of the campaign. Lord Falconer has recognised that there is an imbalance in the legal aid budget and that more money needs to be allocated to civil cases to "help and advise disadvantaged and vulnerable people."
In January 05 we launched Rochdale Law Centre's new web site (www.rochdalelawcentre.org.uk). The web site has since been expanded. Many thanks to Adrian Waterhouse for creating the site.
At the end of last year our Law Centre started taking on volunteers for administration and reception work. Many thanks to them all for their important contribution to our work. You will find more information about RLC's use of volunteers on our web site.
I would like to encourage people to become members of RLC's board. In particular, women are under-represented.
Finally, I would like to thank my fellow board members and the staff team for their hard work in serving the community of Rochdale.
Ghulam Shahzad, Chair of RLCChanges to Staff and Board of Directors
One member of staff left the law centre in June 2004: Jane Luck who was the co-ordinator and Senior Solicitor. She made a valuable contribution to the work of the law centre. We wish her the best of luck in her continuing career and hope that we continue to maintain a good relationship with her in her new post.
Current Staff (as of 31.3.05)
Finn Jensen - Co-ordinator/Development worker
Glynis Graig - Immigration, Asylum and Housing Solicitor
Gillian Quine - Housing Solicitor/Senior Solicitor
Shabana Mann - Immigration, Asylum and Housing Solicitor
Bernie Culshaw - Employment Caseworker
Jane Holmes - Employment Caseworker
Hannah Waterhouse - Admin Worker
Susan Powell - Asylum Support Admin Worker
Kate Salt - Accountant
Mary Clegg - Cleaner
Board of Directors / Charitable Trustees
Ghulam Shahzad - Chair
Andre Diba Musanga - Vice-chair
Peter Brierley - Treasurer
Alan Blacker - Secretary
Derek Snowden
Rosemary Jones
Adhiambo Ashall
David Feingold
Ian Mann (Rochdale Law Association)
Employment Report
Training
In December 2004 the Law Centre was selected by the DTI as one of two organisations in the UK to deliver training on the Religion or belief Regulations and Sexual Orientation Regulations. These Regulations were introduced in December 2003. These new laws give new legal protection from discrimination. The Law Centre was one of those organisations expressing concern to the DTI at the limited use of these new rights to date. The Law Centre was particularly concerned at the limited knowledge of the right to protection given against religious discrimination given the religious diversity of the area.
Working with regional Racial Equality Council's and their national organisation (BFOREC), the training was delivered at 3 conferences in early 2005 - in Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff
To further this work, the law centre has offered training to Rochdale Council on religious discrimination.
This work by the Law Centre follows our public meeting in December 2003 reported in our last annual report. Such work supports our commitment to equal opportunities.
Staff
In June 2004 Jane Luck left the Employment Team to move on to work for a non legal charity.
In November 2004 Jane Holmes joined the team. Jane previously worked in house for British Nuclear Fuels.
Casework
The Employment Team has seen a heavy demand on the service. As usual we have helped negotiate a large number of financial settlements and represented in a number of important Tribunal successes.
Violence in the workplace is a particularly serious matter. A newspaper clip is attached of one such case, were an employee resigned following threatening behaviour by his manager.
There were several large settlements. Unfortunately, these were subject to confidentiality clauses within the settlement agreements and so cannot be disclosed.
As usual the Law Centre received enquiries and requests for assistance on a large selection of employment rights issues. These included unfair dismissal, discrimination, wages, holiday pay, redundancy pay and maternity rights.
Immigration Report
This year has seen many changes in immigration law.
In July 2004 we saw the introduction of British language requirements in order to be granted nationality. Those applying for British nationality now need to show that their knowledge of English is equivalent to an English for Speakers of Other Languages qualification at level 3 or above. Rochdale Law Centre have had to deal with many queries regarding how people could prove that they met this requirement and the documentary evidence which has to be sent to the Home Office.
There was also a new act this year - The Asylum, Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004. This has created a new range of criminal offences for entering the UK on false documents. It also allows for families who have been refused asylum to lose all financial support and accommodation and a possibility of children being taken into local authority care. The Government piloted this scheme in the Rochdale area however support was maintained in all the cases in which the Law Centre provided representation.
During this year our immigration solicitors had to pass examinations to be accredited as senior caseworkers as after April 2005 only those accredited can carry out public funded immigration, nationality and asylum work. Both the Law Centre solicitors passed the senior caseworker exams at first attempt and both have also been accredited as immigration law supervisors. This is a reflection of the level of expertise which the Law Centre has to offer in this area of law.
Unfortunately the new accreditation system made it impossible for us to recruit new staff to the immigration department. For most of the year we have had only two part time solicitors in post which has meant that we have been unable to meet the large demand there is for advice in this area of law within Rochdale and the Pennine Townships.
Although we have had to operate waiting lists for appointments we continued to give advice by telephone on Tuesday and Friday mornings. We also have a regular column in Asian News which deals particularly with immigration issues. In this way we try to ensure that the local community is kept up to date with developments in immigration and asylum law.
Housing Report
During this year the housing department was staffed by Gillian Quine, and Glynis Craig. Both Gillian and Glynis are qualified solicitors. Gillian works full time as a housing specialist and is the Law Centre's Senior Solicitor. At the beginning of the year Glynis was employed part-time in Housing and part-time on Immigration. However after the introduction of the Legal Services Commission's accreditation requirements for Asylum and Immigration work during the course of this financial year, the resulting difficulty in recruiting a qualified or experienced solicitor or case-worker, meant that Glynis was mainly occupied with Asylum and Immigration work in the latter part of the year.
The team staff a housing advice telephone line which is open to the public on Thursday mornings. They will also deal with many urgent housing queries on other days. The housing department undertakes casework and representation in Courts and Tribunals. Housing Outreach sessions are held at Middleton CAB and Smallbridge Tenants and Residents Association headquarters. During the year a further outreach session was begun in Heywood. Home visits can also be arranged where necessary.
The Housing Department participates in the Duty Solicitor scheme at Oldham County Court on a rota basis to advise and represent home-owners and tenants who are at risk of having their property repossessed. The rate of successful interventions in this area of our work is very high.
The housing department is one of the busiest at the Law Centre. The Law Centre remains the only not for profit organisation giving legally aided housing advice in Rochdale. We deal with problems such as rent/mortgage arrears, possession, housing benefit appeals, housing disrepair, unlawful eviction and homelessness.
In one appeal to the Housing Benefit Appeal Tribunal a decision relating to an alleged overpayment of benefit totalling over £20,000 was overturned and we also had several successful appeals relating to smaller sums. In another case the Law Centre successfully defended a tenant against a possession claim from a housing association which had failed to protect the tenant concerned against serious anti-social behaviour of a racist nature from neighbours. . A substantial settlement was also obtained for one client who had lost his home and belongings as a result of an alleged unlawful eviction. In this area of law we have continued to develop our working relationship with Rochdale Council's Advice Service to ensure that both criminal and civil proceedings are pursued in such matters.
The Law Centre is proud of its housing work. The majority of our clients obtain a satisfactory resolution to their problems. We are concerned however that many people with housing problems do not seek advice. We therefore work closely with Rochdale Council's Advice Service and other advice and support agencies in an attempt to ensure that people take advantage of the service we offer.
We hope and expect that the next year financial year will be a time of expansion for the Law Centre in general and the Housing Department in particular. In looking forward to this we would like to thank all associated agencies for their continued support and co-operation and in particular the Shelter Inclusion Project, NCH, Women's Aid, Rochdale Advocacy Group and Supporting People. We would also like to thank Middleton CAB for the use of its premises and in providing support and co-ordination for outreach sessions. Thank you to everyone who has helped us to make our service as effective as possible.
Facts and figures about the Law Centre
In the year from April 2004 to March 31st 2005 the law centre dealt with 1916 enquiries. The break down is as follows:
Employment: 452 (24%)
Housing: 358 (19%)
Immigration & Asylum: 664 (35%)
Others: 442 (22%)
Our law centre took on 504 new cases during the 12 months from April 2004 to March 2005. The break down is as follows:
Employment: 119 (24%)
Housing: 181 (36%)
Immigration & Asylum: 175 (35%)
Others: 29 (5%)
What is next for Rochdale Law Centre?
Rochdale Law Centre is facing its biggest change since it was launched 15 years ago. This change is on several fronts and will lead to a sharp improvement in the service the Law Centre provides for the communities of Rochdale Borough.
The most obvious change will be the Law Centre's move to 15 Drake Street. This is expected to take place at the beginning of 2006. The new premises will give us more space, which in turn enables us to expand with more staff and volunteers. The net result should be an increase in the number of clients the Law Centre can advise and represent.
Rochdale Law Centre will be able to employ more staff if we receive additional funding. We have always wanted to expand our specialist advice and representation into other areas of social welfare law. It is therefore very encouraging that we have already been promised additional funding to enable us to do so.
We are hopeful that the Disability Rights Commission will grant our Law Centre two years funding for a fulltime Disability Rights Worker. If granted the staff member will cover a geographical area much bigger than Rochdale. The post holder will be doing both casework and legal educational work.
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has agreed to fund a part-time mental health worker/solicitor and another part-time housing worker/solicitor at Rochdale Law Centre. We are fortunate to have recruited an experienced housing worker, Kevin Lister, who will start working full-time for us by the end of November. Kevin is a trainee solicitor and will be doing primarily housing work.
The Advocacy Group in Rochdale has recently agreed in principle to fund a part-time worker to do community care and health work for elderly people in Rochdale. This funding is for 12 months and a contract is still to be negotiated.
Finally, Rochdale Law Centre has received a small grant to give advice on employment issues to home workers in Oldham, Wigan, Bury, Rochdale and Manchester.
Rochdale Law Centre has submitted an application to Rochdale Council for extra funding to enable us to employ one and half immigration workers/solicitors because of a shortage of qualified immigration specialists in Rochdale, for an Asylum Seeker Support Worker and a part-time mental health worker/solicitor. We will not know until the beginning of 2006 whether this bid is successful.
All this amounts to a major step forward for Rochdale Law Centre. We will celebrate these achievements with an opening day once we are established in our new premises on Drake Street.
We also want to increase our membership base, not least among our clients and ex-clients. Some ex-clients are on our Management Committee. We want to increase our accountability to the communities we serve.
