NI’s largest advice charity dealt with 4,062 cases and £43.4 million in household debt during 2023.
Ahead of widespread strike action and unprecedented pressure on public services, Advice NI calls for return of a functioning Assembly with local politicians prioritising spending and supporting our most vulnerable people.
People on the lowest incomes – both in and out of work – have endured a decade of austerity; with freezes and cuts to social security benefits and in-work support; hollowing out support, undermining resilience and ability to cope with adversity.
Advice NI, Rural Support and The Ulster Farmers’ Union have expressed their collective concern over the impact on many of the 134,000 self-employed people in Northern Ireland who currently rely on tax credits and who will be impacted by ‘Move to UC’.
People on the lowest incomes – both in and out of work – have endured a decade of austerity; with freezes and cuts to social security benefits and in-work support; hollowing out support, undermining resilience and ability to cope with adversity.
Rises in interest rates, childcare costs, supermarket inflation and rising household bills cause additional strain.
Advice NI notes with deep concern that the Department of Communities is faced with unprecedented funding challenges and cuts in 2023-24.
Advice NI calls for restoration of NI Executive to provide desperately needed local support as poorest households brace themselves for a winter of crisis and deprivation.
Advice NI has produced the first in a series of Briefing Papers on ‘Move to UC’ which is the UK government’s plan to move ‘legacy’ social security benefit claimants onto Universal Credit by December 2024
Advice NI, Northern Ireland’s leading advice charity, highlighted at the launch of their annual report that they dealt with 86,000 enquiries from the public on the Covid-19 Community Helpline from the beginning of the pandemic.
