Actually Mike, its South Somerset at the moment (although my contract runs out 31/12/2008), although i'm doing very limited bits and bobs in Dorset at the moment, but that will change in the new year if my contract is not renewed.
But yeah our situation in South Somerset (and Dorset too, big wealth disparities there), parallels yours in Kings Lynn and West Norfolk to the extent that i feel incapable of adding anything else because it is really depressing (paper and cracks spring to mind because of the nature of the local economies).
Similarly, i suspect on paper there are parallels with numbers employed in manufacturing, last time i looked in South Somerset it was around a third of the working population. But that disguises the fact that the vast majority are not involved in skilled manufacturing jobs like Westlands, but rather unskilled jobs (temporary contracts) connected to service industry activities i.e. dairies and food processing, low paid dependent on overtime if available, tax credits etc etc. Scarily vulnerable to any down turns in the economy, let alone one of the magnitude were hurtling into at present.
Again, we are first tier (taking referrals from all sources, including people walking in off the street), but doing second tier work too. Ostensibly our role (we are part of the housing dept connected to the homeless persons team) is to save tenancies and maintain tenancies through the usual income maximisation.
I think the reason District council welfare rights units are few and far between in rural areas in the east, south, and west, is down to the conservatism both of the populations and the local politics of those areas, certainly not due to lack of demand in terms of volume of casework or need for advocacy.
I think Gareth's ideas are great in as much nothing ventured nothing gained, although i share Helston Paul's pessimism.
As for the "Recession and the impact on benefits", i think i better keep my mouth firmly clamped other than to say 'i feel my fellow welf postings anguish'.
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