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29 March 2004

AGENCY STRENGTHENS LINKS WITH VOLUNTARY SECTOR

‘Benefits for All’, a research report detailing a joint Social Security Agency/Advice Service Alliance project and new protocols on joint working between the Agency and the voluntary sector were launched today.

Speaking at the launch event at the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) in Duncairn Gardens, Belfast, Alan Shannon, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Social Development, said: "The protocols formalise, for the first time, the working relationship between the Social Security Agency and the Advice Service Alliance.

"They set out principles and arrangements for interfaces between both respective roles and responsibilities on, for example, how the Agency will consult in a timely manner with the voluntary sector on matters of mutual interest and how we will provide leaflets, forms and other literature.

"They also formalise local liaison arrangements and arrangements for training. And they are working!"

The ‘Benefits for All’ research report covers key areas such as access to benefits, information, customer care issues and service delivery. The report presents over 20 recommendations that have been accepted by both the Social Security Agency and the Advice Sector with the aim of improving services to mutual customers.

A spokesperson for the Advice Service Alliance the ‘Benefits for All’ publication said: "This report demonstrates how, through working in partnership, the Social Security Agency and Advice Sector can achieve better services for our mutual customers."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

  1. Copies of the new protocols and report can be obtained by contacting Siobhan Martin, SSA Corporate Customer Services Unit on 028 9056 9535. The publications are also available on the Agency’s Internet site www.ssani.gov.uk

  2. The Advice Service Alliance is principally made up of the three main voluntary advice organisations in Northern Ireland, the NI Law Centre, Advice NI and the NI Association of Citizen’s Advice Bureaux (NIACAB).

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