A NEW in-house financial advice service is to be provided by Torridge District Council so people can get help face-to-face with their day-to-day bills and other budgeting matters.

The council will begin a 12-month pilot with a full-time advisor to assist people in crisis.

Advice will be given in a number of locations, including venues at Torridge District Council offices, home visits or at community venues.

The assistance will help people develop skills, tools and capabilities to manage their finances. Advice will include income maximisation, debt management, budgeting skills and benefits.

By intervening early, the council believes that the service will have a positive effect on temporary accommodation and housing costs.

The cost of the new service will be £50,000 and money left from a coronavirus support fund will be used, with the remainder from rough sleeper funding.

It is expected to complement financial support for the most vulnerable people such as that from the Household Support Fund (HSF) and council tax support.

Torridge will receive a further round of HSF funding from the government in the spring. In the last six months it has handed out £268,000 to residents suffering financial hardship.

In a report to the council’s community and resources committee, monitoring officer Staci Dorey said the council had been signposting people to other organisations, but unfortunately many hadn’t been able to give advice because they didn’t have enough capacity.

She reported that people in need of assistance were often offered telephone interviews or online services which some found very difficult or impossible to access.

“Despite subsidising some of these external organisations, Torridge is not given a priority over referrals and applicants are often placed on long waiting lists, and either receive no support, or the support comes far too late,” she said.

The officer fronting the new in-house service will be from an organisation called Navigate that delivers money and debt services to people who can’t access mainstream advice.

Committee members were told that they had the training and expertise to do the job and had taken referrals from the council before.

The council’s revenue and benefits team had reported seeing an increasing number of people needing immediate support, heard the committee.

Ms Dorey continued: “The demand for debt advice services, particularly in housing and homelessness prevention, has surged, and more people have been left in precarious situations.

“This will be a real opportunity for us to get to not only our towns, but villages and more rural locations. This is something that has been missing recently, with current agencies who just do not have the capacity to deal with face-to-face meetings anywhere, let alone in more rural locations.”

Council leader Ken James (Independent, Milton and Tamarside) fully supported the initiative. He said: “It shows that we are an outward looking council wanting to directly engage with the less fortunate members of our community looking for help in gaining the support they need at these difficult times.”