Laurent Barthel PL

Laurent Barthel from the Union of Citizens Advice Bureaux (UCAB), Poland

On work placement in Birmingham (UK) in a few Citizens Advice Bureaux

The last days were so busy so it was hard to find some time to write my impressions of the first days of my stay in Birmingahm and its surroudings. At the aiport, I met Agnes (or Agnieszka) a Polish employee from Tyseley CAB, who works for a project supported by Macmillian, which aim is to give outreach advice (mainly in hospitals) for people who have a cancer. Inquiries show that the second most important subject of matter for these person is (after life and health) about their financial situation. So advisers help them to maximize their incomes (e.g. by claiming apropriate benefits). I spend the afternoon and evening with Agnes and her fiance, who comes from Poland too. Both found a job in England, and want to stay there. So, they could take in a successful way advantage of the European citizen right of free movement

Wednesday 16.06
The most of my first ‘working’ day was spent in Tyseley CAB, in Birmingham’s suburbs. It’s one of the five CABs which operate in Birmingham.
During my stay in Tyseley CAB, I could attend to an interwiew with a Yemenite client. I appreciate to see how many people with different origins, backgrounds…English pronouciations! could work together in a efficient and a friendly way. At the end of the afternoon, I attended a part of the Birmingham’s CAB managers and Trustees Board meeting.

Thursday 17.06
Very busy day, spent with the Debt Unit in Central Birmingham CAB. I could attend to two interwiews, with very different cases, and different ways to help them solve thier problems. I could compare the used tools with those used in our Polish CAB’s, how does cases recording work in practice, or in how adviser contacts each creditor.

At the evening, very friendly meeting with Emma’s (my mentor) parents, and her mother’s best friend, a very nice Polish person, who is married with a English man, and lives for a long time in England.

Friday 18

Morning with debts units, one case closed with PayPlan, and the second with the submission of a debt Relief Order. Next we go with Emma to the Polish Center, where an English lawyer is giving advice for Polish immigrants, who have sometimes a poor command of English, or are not prepared to deal with British administration. I could attend to 4 interwiews, with very different cases. Each person had a lot of problems to solve (benefits claiming, work seeking, housing issues, Home’s Office registration for citizen from new EU’s members, car insurance..) are only some example of problems which immigrants form Poland faces.
Afternoon, meeting with Mariya, a caseworker in the Birmingham CAB’s benfits unit.

My diary’s second part        Posted on July 19, 2010 by laurent28

This is the second part of my diary – I couldn’t finish it during my stay in London, due to some problems with Internet connection.
As I started to write, I had on Friday a meeting with Maryia, a benefits unit caseworker. She tolds me about the most relevant issues for EU-migrants (and espacially Polish people) who try to claim some benefits (either contribution-based, or income based) during their stay in UK. Workers from new UE members need to be registered in the WRS (Workers Registration Scheme). If they fail to do so, and if they further work in UK, their working period would not be taken into consideration for claiming benefits. Maryia said that clients are used to consider that this registration belongs to employers duties. Due to the lack of knowledge of theses regulations, some people who have worked longer than the minimal period requiered to get benefits, couldn’t get them, because they working period couldn’t be taken into account.
An other relevant issue is in some cases is reluctance from administration to pay some benefits to Eastern European clients, even if all the proofs and documents were submitted in a proper way.

Unfortunatly driving back to my mentor’s home in Redditch, we had a car accident. Fortunatly nobody was injured, but everyone was schocked. As a foreigner being for the first time in UK, I greatly appreciated the level of service and kindness shown by police and emeregency services.

Saturday 19.06. After this hard working week and emotions, I was invited to spend the weekend in the beautiful little town of Marvern, in Dom’s (he’s one of the debt unit superivors) home. It was a very nice immersion in the “British way of life”, with a true English barbecue, a true English breakfast, and a very nice walk in the beautiful Malvern Hills. My dream would be opening a new CAB outreach service in these beauthiful surrondings!! Only the weather was not really British, it was hot and sunny during almost all my stay!

Monday 21.06. Very interesting day with the County Court Welfare Office, to see how CAB’s caseworkers perform a “last minute” help to clients whose loans were secured by mortgages on their houses. Adviser could very quickly talk both with debtor and creditor, prepare a new paiement schedule, which effect is the suspending of the possession order by the judge.
In the afternoon we tried to get in touch with some representatives of the Polish community in the district of Handsworth. We got some information from the Polish Centre we visited last Thursday that a fair amount of Polish immigrants live in poor conditions in some sqatts or in small rooms. We got to Polish shops in the neighbourhood in order to find a contact with this Polish community. Our researches were unsuccessful, but we founded a Polish cafe, were we decide to have a drink. We strated to talk with the present people, and especially with the waitress. We talked about the project, and about citizen advice, which was an unknow issue for her, and Emma could give her an advice about the beefits she can claim. Perhaps we will open a new outreach service in this cafe??

Tuesday 22.06. Quite interesting meeting with the IT department. I can compare our IT solutions with them form Citizen Advice. Some things are quite similar, but the scale is fully different. But all these informations could be a source of inspiration when we get more than 100 Bx more. I hope that it would be soon!
But unfortunatly after the visit, the Internet connexion interrupted! So we couldn’t work on the cases database, as planned. After the lunch it was already time to say “Goodbye” to Birmingham “Thank you” to all CABx workers and volunteers for their commitment, and catch the train to London!

Posted in From the exchange experience, Laurent Berthel – UCAB PL, Learnings | Tagged case worker, Eastern Europe | Leave a comment

3 rd part my stay in LondonPosted on July 19, 2010 by laurent28

After a quick and nice journey, we arrived to London.  In the hotel, we wet other participants of the programme – Marta from Spain, but now working in my home town, Strasbourg (so an other example of EU citizens free movement), Daniela and Michaela from Brasov (Rumania).  Togehter with Paul Baird form Citizen Advice England Wales we had a dinner in a local restaurant, during which we could learn more from ourselves and from our organizations.

Wednesday 23 June

“General meeting” in Citizens Advice Headquarters in London. We had very interesting presentation of the whole scope of Citizen’s Advice activities. All presentations (Benefits Policy, Qulity of Advice, Press, Information, Strategy, itp..) were, dispite of the difference of scale relevant for our work. I especially retained the Brent CAB’s CEO presentation  who talks about the “marriage made in heaven” between Brent CAB and Warsaw CAB, about the transfer of expperiences in the field of debt advice.

The meeting was so  interesting that no one escaped from the room to watch the England-Slovenia World Cup game!! We got later the information that many schools or offices closed earlier in order to allow people watch the game!

After the meeting I started to feel bad, and I could’t find again my medicines which I had to take everyday. So Emma tried to find a walk-in medical center, where I can get an prescription for this medicine. She tried to phone to several walk-in medical centres, and an hour after she got the address of one, when I could get my prescription. We went together in the walk-in center, we registered, waited for one hour, got interwiewed by a nurse..and at the end, we got the information that the doctor couln’t make the prescription for me. So I could have an experience of being a “new arrivant” from an other EU country, who has to deal with the British health care system. I would like to say that I remember better my experience with British police when we had the car accident…For the medicines fortunatly I could tell my Dad (who is a doctor) to get me some pills for the next day.

Thursday 24 June

The first half of my last “full day” in London was quite disturbed – I felt in the morning quite bad, so I could’nt attend (unfortunatly) to the meeting with UK Border Agency. Next I had a lot of concerns with one project partner (some misunderstandings and a quite rude mail from the organizations chairperson), and with the money transfer which we didn’t got yet from the project leader to cover the costs of my air travel and Emma’s staying in Poland. So much “administrative” and “financial” problems to solve during a stay abroad for a French-Hungarian person who lives in Poland and travelled to England!

25 June: Travel back to Warsaw, with a 3 days stop in my home town, Strasbourg. Thanks everyone for your help support and hospitality during my stay in England. I will remember this! Emma, see you in a few days in Warsaw!!