Case Study - Halton Citizens' Advice Bureau

Halton Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB) helps more than 4,000 people each year with advice covering housing, debt and legal rights. However, by working on a 'first come, first served' basis, the bureau's staff suspected that many more people were not getting the advice they needed.

Manager of Halton CAB, Hitesh Patel, explains: "Vulnerable people and those with an urgent enquiry need more support to access services but they were disadvantaged by the old system. Our partner organisations would refer someone to us but we couldn't confirm if that person got advice or whether they'd even shown up. A further problem was that people would arrive at the CAB without the relevant paperwork, so they would need to make another appointment."

While the CAB's 20 staff would try to help, there was no formal process for capturing information. "We would write details on paper and hopefully follow it through, but there was always the risk the paper would get lost or that the adviser was unexpectedly off sick," says Hitesh. "Sometimes, no-one would know about the outstanding advice request. We needed an automated, computerised system but didn't have the money or resources to develop one."

Professional Help

Halton CAB contacted iT4Communitites and outlined the problem. Panikos Panayi, a full-time IT manager at Global Investments Group plc, rose to the challenge.

With nearly two decades' IT experience and expertise in networking and back-end web systems, he knew he had the answer. "Government e-portals are hugely successful so I created a system for Halton CAB based on the concept," says Panikos.

Automatic Referrals

In his spare time, Panikos developed an online referral system that allows partner agencies to log in to a secure site, see which CAB office has availability and make a referral. The system generates an immediate receipt so they know the person is now on the CAB's books.

To help referred clients, this receipt also contains an enquiry-specific checklist of what they need to bring to their appointment at the CAB office. Meanwhile, CAB staff see referrals in real time and can quickly assess urgency. They can also proactively chase people if they miss an appointment.

Hitesh says: "Now our advisers at any CAB office can see which referrals are outstanding. We can better manage demand for our services across our whole district."

Benefits to Everyone

With the system fully live, Panikos remains in close contact with the CAB to provide technical support, additional functionality and updates. "The system has never crashed or lost any data. How many people can say that about such a critical piece of software?" says Hitesh. "We could only help people as effectively and efficiently as this with Panikos' volunteering efforts through iT4C."

Panikos' efforts also won the ICT Hub/iT4C Best Impact Award 2006. "IT professionals often don't have any contact outside their immediate circles and I hadn't been aware how many organisations, especially charities, needed IT help but couldn't afford it," says Panikos. "Volunteering is a great way to help others. In addition, I've learned how other people work, which has helped my professional development in my 'day job'. I recommend it to everyone."

Panikos Panayi is an IT professional with nearly 20 years' experience. From green screens to sophisticated back-end networks, Panikos has been instrumental in the development of various applications. He is now a full-time IT manager for Global Investors Group plc, a holding company in Manchester. He has worked as an IT volunteer through iT4C in his spare time since 2003.

Features and benefits

• Secure, online referral system;
• Referring companies can see the CAB with the greatest availability;
• An automatic receipt assures the referrer that the case is now on the CAB's books;
• An automatically generated checklist tells the person seeking help what they need to take to their CAB appointment;
• CAB staff can see cases being referred and prioritise them;
• CAB staff can also call those who didn't arrive for their appointment to check whether they still require advice.