An independent and effective voice

We all face an uncertain future.  Law Centre funding, once on a three year cycle, is now down to annual funding.  There is a review of the Regional Infrastructure Programme which covers the voluntary advice sector and a Fundamental Legal Aid Review alongside even greater scrutiny of funding in general.

The paradox is that funding austerity will coincide with more people coming through the doors seeking advice.  The migration of Incapacity Benefit claimants to Employment and Support Allowance from February 2011 will mean 500 claimants a week being put through the Work Capability Assessment for the next three years.  Department for Work and Pensions estimates of the numbers likely to fail the test suggests up to 20,000 appeals will result.  Other changes to Housing Benefit, tax credits and eventually Disability Living Allowance will also entail additional work.  Economic forecasts predict Northern Ireland making a slower recovery from the economic downturn.  As a result, the importance of good quality independent advice will grow rather than diminish.

In such times, it becomes more important than ever that the Law Centre and other voluntary advice organisations hold their nerve.  Providing an independent, evidence led and experience based challenge to government departments and public authorities is even more vital in straitened times.  Our advice line has dealt with a significant number of enquiries covering redundancy, diminished access to community care services and claimants on Employment and Support Allowance failing the Work Capability Assessment test.

Our response has been a practical one, including producing a Redundancy Toolkit for advisers, commissioning the Institute for Fiscal Studies to analyse the distribution effects (ie fairness) of the Chancellor’s emergency budget and Comprehensive Spending Review and an increase in training available to advisers on social security matters.

Making a real difference through policy work is time-consuming, resource intensive and often frustrating.  Influencing public policy is about compelling arguments well put, building effective working relationships and alliances, winning political and public support, making the case for resources and on occasions a bit of good luck.  The Law Centre champions causes which are not always popular: mental health reform; the need to plug the gaps in welfare provision for migrant workers; a more humane system for managing asylum; and recognition that a lack of child care infrastructure is an impediment to ambitions for radical welfare reform.  All of these causes are informed by our work and the knowledge that major policy change rarely occurs overnight.  High quality service delivery in turn creates policy credibility.  The Law Centre is well served in this respect.

We remain confident that the Law Centre will continue to provide an independent and effective voice for social justice through our work despite the bumpy road ahead.  We hope that the Annual Report demonstrates that commitment and wish to thank the staff and management committee colleagues for their continuing dedication.

Law Centre (NI) Chairperson Ciaran McAteer and Director Les Allamby

 

Our achievements

Statistics for 1 April 09 to 31 March 10 

Casework

6,429 advice calls taken

371 new cases opened

291 court and tribunal representations

83 strategic cases taken

19 practitioner meetings

Success rate at courts and tribunals ­

Social security appeals­ 66%­

Social security commissioners­ 42%­

Industrial tribunals­ 97%­

Immigration appeals­ 67%­

Court hearings­ 50%­

Mental health review tribunals­ 64%­

Publications

1 new website

27 new publications

13,900 documents distributed

214,580 visits to our website

1,865,782 hits on pages of our website

117,889 page views on our online Encyclopedia of Rights

Training

739 people trained of which:

290 in courses for members

146 in courses for health trusts

303 in external training given on request

100% overall satisfaction with training

90.2% highly satisfied with programme courses

96.2% highly satisfied with training    for health trusts

2 legal apprenticeships

Policy

9 conferences and seminars

25 policy responses

13 briefings

9 meetings with politicians and policy makers

2 evidence sessions to Assembly Committee

6 changes secured to law and policy

 

Defending the vulnerable

‘Once again, due to your analysis of the law, our client’s appeal was ultimately successful and the position of the Social Security Agency was overturned.  Consequently, our client’s entitlement to Income Support from 14 September 2004 to date of the appeal was affirmed.’ David Bell, Gordon Bell and Son Solicitors

The message of the annual report this year is that advice matters.

Our advice in 2010 resolved complex legal issues of unfair dismissal, psychiatric detention, immigration status and entitlement to social security benefits.  Ultimately, some advice leads to actions in courts and tribunals to secure social justice for many of the most vulnerable in our society.  We took strategic cases to establish important legal principles stretching beyond our individual clients.

The lessons learnt from our legal advice and casework shape the focus of our training programme.  We train advisers on how to navigate the complexities of the social security system to get the right result for their clients.  Our legal advisers ensure that the outcomes of strategic casework are passed on to advisers, social workers, lawyers and NGOs through training and practitioner groups.

Our publications support advisers and others by keeping them informed of legal and policy developments that affect their work. We reach out to people in need of advice and information through our website and leafleting campaigns.

Advice and casework experience is turned into policy development and lobbying work in social security, employment, mental health, community care and immigration.  This ensures that the right policy response is delivered to meet local needs.

Our report for 2010 highlights innovations in our work over the last twelve months.

 

Addressing the impact of welfare reform

‘I approached the Law Centre with a very negative feeling as I had been knocked down at every obstacle.  My caseworker was very helpful, positive and professional throughout my two year torment, and reached a positive ending with the tribunal.’ Social security client

We lobbied hard for changes to the Welfare Reform Act (NI) 2010 to reflect the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.

Working with policy makers

We gave evidence to the Assembly’s Social Development Committee and produced a series of amendments to the Bill.  The amendments were taken up by the Alliance Party and Sinn Fein.  Although the amendments ultimately fell, during the passage of the Bill the Minister for Social Development announced his desire to meet the Law Centre.  In the subsequent meeting, we were reassured that the implementation of the legislation would be sympathetically applied.

Since then, the new coalition government has set out its vision for radical welfare reform and we are working with policy makers and others to anticipate the impact of these changes.   We commissioned the Institute for Fiscal Studies to measure the impact of the emergency budget social security proposals and the spending review announcements.

Welfare reform policy group

In 2010, we convened the Welfare Reform Policy Group, a coalition of organisations to campaign on welfare reform.  The group comprises Law Centre (NI), Age NI, Access to Benefits, Council for the Homeless, Gingerbread, Women’s Resource and Development Agency, Disability Action, Save the Children, Advice NI and Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action.  It has lobbied the Assembly to keep the impact of changes on older people, lone parents and other vulnerable groups high on the political agenda.

We also held our first North-South Social Security Forum with advisers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to look at how best to share learning on the issues affecting cross-border workers.

 

Reducing poverty

Safeguarding the rights of people on benefits

Housing Benefit reform hit the headlines this year, with the promised cuts potentially putting more people in poverty.    We highlighted both to the Work and Pensions Select Committee at Westminster and to the Department the risks that cuts could have, including increasing homelessness.

Case study:  We were able to help a client facing repossession of her home. Our client was refused housing costs by the Social Security Agency in November 2009. We argued that the decision should be reconsidered. After the Agency took legal advice, it agreed with our interpretation of the regulations. Our client was able to use the money to help with her mortgage arrears.

Case study:  We were able to settle an appeal for a Latvian client who had been unable to access Child Benefit.  The family live in Northern Ireland but her husband goes across the border to work.  After our intervention, the Republic of Ireland agreed to pay 9,700 Euros in arrears of Child Benefit and to make monthly payments.

Protecting employees’ rights in the recession

‘I am delighted to write to you to thank the Law Centre for its interest, professionalism and skill in helping me to resolve an employment tribunal case. (My caseworker) negotiated the settlement for the full amount of the claim and without a confidentiality agreement.  I believe this is almost unheard of in these cases. Lay people would not find it easy to take cases to tribunal as the legal issues are potentially so complex.’ Derek Jarman, representative in employment case

'I could not fault the service I received from the Law Centre. My caseworker helped me in every possible way to deal with a very difficult situation.  I will always be greateful for the help to start trying to put this behind me.' employment client

We have won tribunals and settled cases covering discrimination against migrant workers, homophobic bullying in the workplace, maternity rights, unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, working time regulations, insolvency, breach of contract and unfair deduction from wages.

Families are being hit hard with redundancy or the threat of redundancy as the economic downturn persists this year.  In response, we published a Redundancy Toolkit to help frontline advisers check that employers are acting properly and that employees are receiving the full redundancy payments to which they are entitled.   We delivered three one-day training sessions on the law on redundancy, lay off and employer insolvency, targeting union representatives and local advisers.

Case study: Our employment casework included acting for an employee who had been selected for redundancy despite having the longest service in the company and a wider range of skills than most other employees. The employer had not followed the statutory dismissal procedure and had not shown the employee any selection criteria before dismissal. This made the dismissal automatically unfair. The employer said that the company did not have to use selection criteria because it was not a large enough employer. Our client was convinced that he had been dismissed because of previous problems he had had with the foreman, including disputes about health and safety. Just before the listed tribunal hearing date, the case settled for £18,000.

This case demonstrates the importance of the statutory dismissal procedure as a safeguard for employees.

We made the case for retention of the statutory dismissal procedure this year when DEL consulted on policy proposals for reforming the dispute resolution system.  We gave evidence to the Assembly’s Employment Committee and successfully lobbied for the retention of the statutory dismissal procedure and for the removal of the statutory grievance procedure which has caused so much confusion.

Case study: We represented a waitress in a local restaurant.  Throughout her employment, she was told that waiting staff were not entitled to holiday pay.  She resigned from her job and raised a grievance about the issue.  We lodged a claim for an unlawful deduction from wages and entered into negotiations with her ex-employer.  It was revealed that the employer was not paying holiday pay to waiting staff and some kitchen staff.  The case settled for £3,000 and, as part of the agreement, the employer agreed that 90 others would be given their statutory minimum entitlement to holiday leave and pay.

Working to end child poverty

The evidence is clear that children living in poverty do less well on a number of indicators.   Committed to an end to child poverty, we built on the work we had done in 2009 on a childcare strategy and on the Child Poverty Bill.

To this end, we spoke at an event at Queen’s University Belfast and continue to be involved in the Child Poverty Alliance.  The Alliance works with OFMDFM on the development of a child poverty strategy to bring about meaningful change in the lives of the 21 per cent of Northern Ireland children who live in persistent poverty.

 

Challenging disadvantage

‘There will be areas of excellence, such as the Law Centre provides for immigration, where, frankly, people get better advice than is available elsewhere.  If I had that type of legal dispute, I would go to the Law Centre.  I have recommended it to others, and it is widely acknowledged that the Law Centre is the market leader.  Furthermore, it works very cost-effectively.’ David Lavery, head of Courts and Tribunal Service, speaking to the Justice Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Asylum seekers and newcomers

We secured a further Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission contract for asylum and immigration legal services. We delivered immigration advice on over 2,000 occasions on our telephone advice line last year. We succeeded in obtaining refugee status, other rights to remain and family reunion for people from Algeria, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Hungary, Iran, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, South Africa, Turkey and Zimbabwe.

Case study:  We challenged the delay in determining the asylum claim of an Eritrean client. She and her family had been waiting for six years to learn if they would be able to stay in Northern Ireland and her health was suffering as a result of the uncertainty. She was delighted that the government responded by giving her permission to remain.

Case study:  We successfully challenged the government’s refusal to grant asylum to a Zimbabwean client who but for our assistance would have faced returning to a dangerous situation.

We campaigned to address the disadvantage faced by asylum seekers on a number of fronts.   A UK Border Agency policy change meant that asylum seekers were required to report to Croydon.  We successfully lobbied the UKBA and local policy makers on the impact this would have on asylum seekers in Northern Ireland who would face considerable problems travelling to the south of England without means or travel documents.  We secured agreement that the rule in force elsewhere would not be applied in Northern Ireland.

We oversaw a research project by the Refugee Action Group highlighting the experiences of asylum seekers detained and removed to immigration detention centres in Britain.

Children’s rights and immigration

We marked Refugee Week by hosting a North-South Immigration Forum to map out the experiences of children who are asylum seekers.  We are now developing a support system for these children that will complement existing social services duties.

As part of the UKBA review into the end of immigration detention of children, we met the Immigration Minister in June and made the case for an immediate cessation of the practice.

Right to reside

Our work on defending migrant workers this year continued to make use of European law. We brought to the European Commission our concerns about the operation of the right to reside rule, particularly in relation to nationals from the Accession states.  We learnt in June that the College of Commissioners has decided to open an infringement procedure against the UK.

‘Thank you to everybody who helped and supported us at such a difficult moment.  My caseworker was very understanding and I am pleased with all the directions, effort and time I got from her.  I feel I am very lucky to have been able to deal with the Law Centre.’ Immigration client

Promoting social inclusion

‘We were very greatly helped and encouraged by our caseworker when we were in a state of despair. Quite honestly I don’t know what we would have done without her.  She kept us going with her quiet, efficient and sensitive confidence, especially when I felt at times we could lose our much loved son.’ Community care/ mental health client 

‘The staff were very keen to help us, once we got our case-worker we were given very good advice and assistance in all dealings.  She was available to speak to at all times and through her efforts we got the respite we were entitled to.’ Community care client 

Older people and people with disabilities

Government strategies commit to promoting the social inclusion of older people and people living with disabilities.

This year, we added our support to the campaign for the establishment of an Older People’s Commissioner for Northern Ireland and we worked with the OFMDFM Advisory Group on Older People to develop a new positive ageing strategy.

With our Rights in Community Care partners, we lobbied MLAs and policy makers on the need for a review of the care system and launched a series of policy seminars on care issues, hosting the first of these on Facing the Funding Challenge.

Our member agencies referred several cases this year of people having difficulty obtaining direct payments in lieu of care services, preventing them taking control of the way they meet their care needs. We have been able to settle all these cases through correspondence reminding trusts of their statutory duties in this area.

Case study: In one case, referred by Carers Northern Ireland, settlement was negotiated after court proceedings had started.  The Western Health and Social Care Trust had refused a client with learning disabilities direct payments in lieu of care services from the trust.  The trust argued that it could meet his identified need for social activities through attendance at a day centre. Our client was unhappy at the day centre and wished to arrange his own activities via direct payments.  We argued successfully that the services within the day centre did not meet his assessed needs. He now receives direct payments to arrange his own activities.

Our community care practitioner forum hosted two sessions with the Centre for Independent Living, allowing advisers in the sector to improve their knowledge of direct payments.

Securing appropriate services

The Programme for Government gave a commitment to reduce delayed discharge so that by 2013 no-one would remain unnecessarily in hospital.  This year we took on test cases, working with the self advocacy group ‘Tell it like it is’ at Muckamore Abbey Hospital. These cases are part funded by the Public Interest Litigation Support project. We hope to establish that the long delays in providing community based accommodation for our clients are unlawful.

Case study: The focus on unmet need in community care was highlighted in a successful judicial review action in the High Court this year. We acted for a woman with a brain injury who has been waiting several years for a residential placement. She had also experienced significant problems with appropriate care at home, with high turnover of care staff and gaps in provision. The High Court ruled that the Belfast Trust had not done enough to discharge its statutory duty to meet her need for both residential care and appropriate personal care support.  The case sets a useful precedent for other users of social care services who are having difficulty having their care needs met.

Mental health law reform

The Mental Health and Learning Disability Alliance, convened by the Law Centre, has flourished this year.  It now has 22 organisations spanning user and carer groups, professional groups and voluntary sector organisations.  The Alliance completed a series of briefing meetings with the political parties on aspects of the new legislation and launched a new website.

Integrating newcomers

We ran a joint seminar with OFMDFM at Stormont to look at immigration and devolution lessons from Scotland.  With speakers from the Scottish government, parliament and local authorities, we took away a number of lessons on effective local responses to immigration matters.  First among these is the importance of a policy of integration from arrival that can be implemented by the devolved departments to promote the social inclusion, education, health and general well-being of newcomers.

We were invited to Chair OFMDFM’s newly established Immigration Sub-Group.  Through this group we have lobbied to secure entitlement to free ESOL (English as a Second or Other Language) classes for asylum seekers as a means of promoting social inclusion.

Our campaign to establish an emergency fund for destitute migrant workers has continued this year through the Ministerial Immigration Sub-Group.

'Thank you for participating on a panel at the Seminar on Mental Capacity Law Reform organised by Chambré Public Affairs in association with Disability Action (...) Your valuable contribution (...) significantly informed discussions on the day.' Colin Harper, Centre on human rights for people with disabilities, Disability Action

 

Access to justice

Tribunal reform

More people use tribunals than courts so it matters that the tribunal system is open and user friendly.  We published the findings of our research into users’ experience of the tribunal system.  The report, Redressing Users’ Disadvantage, was launched in June, at a conference on tribunal reform in Northern Ireland which we co-hosted with the University of Ulster and the President of the Appeals Service.  In response, the Justice Minister has established a working group to map out administrative justice and the path to tribunal reform.

Dispute resolution

Representing yourself before an industrial tribunal is a daunting experience that only the most tenacious of claimants will even attempt.  Most are forced to drop a claim because they cannot afford a lawyer or to settle a case well below its value.  We campaigned for a better, more affordable and quicker way to resolve employment disputes.  We lobbied the Assembly Employment and Learning Committee about the value of investing in a system that would enable early resolution of workplace disputes.  We argued that this could be achieved through the provision of advice tailored to claimants’ needs and a system of adjudicating on straightforward claims at an earlier stage in the process.

Mental health legal advice clinics

We launched a new mental health in-hospital legal advice clinic in the Tyrone and Fermanagh hospital. This means we now run clinics in Belfast, Derry/ Londonderry and Omagh, as well as our daily telephone advice line which can be accessed across Northern Ireland.

Legal aid reform

Our partnership work with the Advice Services Alliance included a joint conference on Access to Justice, with contributions from the Lord Chief Justice and other key participants in legal reform.  The Law Centre has also given an initial response to the Fundamental Legal Aid Review.

 

Building a stronger sector

Sharing our expertise

Our seminar series on the new mental capacity bill continued to explore the legal issues in the new bill.  We gave talks about the bill at seminars organised by Disability Action and the Royal College of Psychiatrists.  We chaired the DHSSPS Reference Group tasked with assessing the policy proposals for the new bill.  We participated in the Department’s Legal Reform Steering Group examining the new legislation.

We spoke at a conference in Dublin on free movement of workers in the Irish context hosted by the European Observatory on the Free Movement of Workers and at the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Conference in London on tribunal reform in Northern Ireland.

Supporting advisers

We produced a more user-friendly web version of our Encyclopedia of Rights on access to benefits and basic employment law.  We revamped our website to make it easier to find information.  The  Redundancy Toolkit received 1,899 hits on our website in September 2010, and the Polish version of ‘Your Rights in Northern Ireland, a guide for migrant workers’, received 1,190 hits.

We ran an accredited six day tribunal representation course for social security advisers. Nineteen people were awarded the highest level of accreditation from the Open College Network (level 4), demonstrating university level achievement.  Another training innovation was the development of an advocacy skills course as progression from the tribunal representation course. This two day course in April focused on practical advocacy.

We launched an on-line resource for our Welfare Rights Adviser Programme (WRAP), adding to the learning experience for students who are assessed for the level 3 Open College Network advice qualification.

We implemented a skills and knowledge tracking tool for WRAP students.  This exercise demonstrated that our WRAP course had contributed significantly to the improved job performance of those attending.  Most participants rated themselves as moving from no or basic skills level to competent or very competent six months after completion of the training.

Mapping training across the sector

Our Advice Services Alliance partnership work this year included commissioning research from Skills for Justice on how the training of advice workers fits with the national occupational standards for legal advice. Our training for 2010/11 has been redesigned to reflect these standards.

‘WRAP (...) is an important course which sets professional standards of practice for advisers and advocates working in the field of welfare rights.  It was informing to see the broad range of groups represented.’ Paul Fleming, Lord Mayor of Derry, writing in Derry Journal

‘I have learned so much and this will help me improve my skill at representing clients at tribunal.  The tutor was patient, entertaining and full of knowledge’. Advocacy course participant

‘It’s very valuable to listen to people who really know what they are talking about, and staff at the Law Centre do.’ Challenging Social Services Decisions course participant

‘I have been working with clients claiming ESA since it started but found the course very informative and it will give me a much clearer picture of the process involved.’ ESA course participant

‘The tribunal representation course was magnificent and a tremendous success.  I hope it will run again next year.’ Hugh Brady (Rosemount Resource Centre)

 

Changes to law and policy

In 2009-2010, our work helped secure the following changes to law and policy:

• Welfare Reform Act 2009 and Welfare Reform (NI) Order 2010: amendments and recommendations accepted
• Child Poverty Act 2009: recommendation for a system of annual reporting to the devolved administration, and to Westminster on targets, introduced in amendments to the Bill and passed in the Child Poverty Act 2009
• Housing Benefit (No 2) Regulations 2009: our evidence to Social Development Committee resulted in DSD decision to delay the removal of the £15 per week excess Housing Benefit available to some people receiving Local Housing Allowance
• Single Mental Health and Mental Capacity Legislation announced in September 2009 (joint success for Law Centre (NI) and Mental Health and Learning Disability Alliance)
• Secured a decision with UKBA that allows asylum seekers to submit an application in Northern Ireland by fax, instead of having to travel to Croydon
• Borders Immigration and Citizenship Bill 2009: clause proposing the revocation of the Common Travel Area withdrawn by government after we drafted a UK-wide Immigration Law Practitioner Association response arguing that it should be kept
• Consultation on workplace dispute resolution: DEL accepted our recommendation to revoke statutory grievance procedure

Partnership

Law Centre (NI) staff share their expertise in many working groups and committees, including:

• member of Advice Services Alliance, its working group on training and its steering committee for ‘beat the recession’ project
• vice chair of Community Foundation NI
• member of Social Security Advisory Committee
• member of Legal Services Commission (NI)
• member of Housing Rights Service management committee
• member of Committee on the Administration of Justice management committee
• member of DEL migrant workers best practice thematic sub-group
• member of Forced Labour advisory group for research by Institute of Conflict Research
• convener of Rights in Community Care Group
• convener of Mental Health and Learning Disability Alliance
• member of Child Poverty Alliance
• member of OFMDFM Race Equality Forum, and chair of its immigration sub-group
• member of OFMDFM Older People’s Advisory Group
• member of Older People’s Commissioner Roundtable Policy Group
• chair of DHSSPS Reference Group on Capacity Bill
• member of DHSSPS Steering Group on Capacity Bill
• convener of Welfare Reform Policy Group
• member of Human Rights Consortium
• secretary of Refugee Action Group and member of its advisory panel for research on detention
• member of Association of Information Managers

Financial statements 2009-2010

Income

DSD                                                                  672,752

Atlantic Philanthropies                                  250,805

DEL                                                                   165,000

Legal Services Commission                       196,949

Health boards                                                 171,822

DSD training grant                                            29,190

Nuffield Foundation                                          21,514

Publications grants                                             3,500

Miscellaneous grants                                         3,558

Generated and other income                          98,659

Total income                                                1,613,749

Expenditure

Wages and salaries                                   1,235,819

Staff training and travel                                    17,278

Training costs                                                   49,047

Recruitment costs                                              8,927

Casework disbursements                               2,820

Rent and service charges                              69,934

Building, office & professional insurances   8,604

Heat, light and water                                       21,323

Sundry equipment purchase                         10,705

Repairs and renewals                                      9,475

Fire, alarm and equipment maintenance     2,363

Postage                                                             12,292

Stationery, printing and publications            23,691

Telephone and fax                                           12,364

Computer and software maintenance           6,639

Internet and website cost                                 6,115

Photocopier costs                                              3,265

Library books, etc                                            14,460

Software purchases                                          1,769

IT leasing                                                          13,436

Practising certificates                                     15,050

Accountancy, miscellaneous subscriptions 3,558

Audit fees                                                            3,700

Consultancy/team building/funding             13,294

Miscellaneous expenses                                7,250

Evaluation costs                                               5,408

Other project costs                                         15,861

Research costs                                               26,477

Total expenditure                                     1,620,924

Opening funds                                              313,992

Surplus/(deficit) for the year                        -7,175

Closing funds                                                306,817

 

Financial support

­Law Centre (NI) wishes to express its thanks­ for financial support in 2009-2010 provided by:­

• Department for Social Development­
• Department for Employment and Learning­
• Nuffield Foundation ­
• Legal Services Commission (NI) ­    ­
• Atlantic Philanthropies­       ­
• Social Security Agency­       ­
• Health and Social Services Boards­
• Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs­        ­
• Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment­

 

Management committee

Chairperson: Ciaran McAteer (Belfast Solicitors Association)

Vice Chairperson: Gráinne McKeever (University of Ulster School of Law)

Secretary: Norman Stewart (WAVE)

Treasurer: Barrie McLatchie (Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre)

Other members: Janet Hunter (Housing Rights Service)

Fiona Magee (Advice NI)

Donal McKinney (Falls Community Council)

Cathal MacElhatton (Glenbrook Day Centre, Foyle HSST)

Michael Roddy  (Omagh Independent Advice Services)

Mick McAtavey (Belfast Group of CABs) Karen Campbell (Holywood CAB)

Patrice Hardy (Equality Commission for Northern Ireland)

Mary McManus (East Belfast Independent Advice Centre)

Sharon Dillon (Dungannon CAB)

 

Find out more

This report gives an overview of our work. To find out more about our policy work, training courses, publications and casework, you can visit other pages of our website or contact our offices.

To protect our clients, we do not keep the full version of our annual report online. If you would like to order a paper copy, please order the Law Centre Annual Report here.