The Advice Services Alliance (ASA) had long planned its conference to be held in person in Manchester over 4–5 October (having been postponed twice due to the pandemic). Unfortunately, a national rail strike meant the ASA had to pivot rapidly and hold it online.

The conference started with an introduction read out from the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham. Clare Moriarty (Citizens Advice’s chief executive) and Julie Bishop (director of the Law Centres Network) then made impactful speeches about the sector once again being in the ‘eye of the storm’ facing the cost of living crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic was a huge challenge, but brought out the best in the sector. Moriarty set out how Citizens Advice responded to lockdown – for example, at the height of the pandemic it was updating its website daily to respond to searches. She praised the whole sector’s response when moving to remote working. Citizens Advice is now reviewing issues around quality, time spent with clients, volunteering and the longer-term impact of the shift to telephone advice and remote channels. Moriarty’s message was that Citizens Advice is part of an ecosystem, and wants to work in a holistic way across the sector. Bishop addressed what we learnt from the pandemic – we can make change quickly, funders responded quickly, government responded quickly, but we now need to be more robust in speaking out about what needs to change and to stop ‘self-censoring’. Finally, Phanuel Mutumburi (business and operations director of the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality) challenged us about the importance of involvement and lived experience, and embracing learning from disruption.

The afternoon sessions focused on partnerships, starting with a presentation from We Are Digital about its partnership with HM Courts & Tribunals Service. There were also contributions from a range of advice stakeholders, from the Trussell Trust and the Child Poverty Action Group to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Welsh government’s National Advice Network, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and London Funders. A key theme about working across third-sector and public-sector partnerships was the need for co-production and working with communities. There is good commissioning work happening regionally, but this is challenging for the sector in the current environment and stretches resources. However, Sinéad Campbell (head of money, debt and quality at Advice NI) reminded us that if we think things are tough in England and Wales, we should look to Northern Ireland, where the executive remains suspended.

The second day looked at examples of adapting service models to connect with communities in a post-pandemic but more digitally-orientated world. One approach to working with community groups has been described as ‘Advice First Aid’ – training community groups to be signposters providing information, support and guidance within the community, working in partnership with advice agencies. The Greater London Authority is supportive of this approach. Sally Causer referenced the Access to Education Rights Project and other projects run by Southwark Law Centre, of which she is executive director. Some key messages about effective community engagement were:

Other presentations, which included an Introduction to Quality Assurance and the Advice Quality Standard, led to some important points about the relationship between advice agencies, users and communities:

The next session looked at justice issues, including a contribution from Lord Bellamy KC, parliamentary under secretary of state for justice. He confirmed that a review of civil legal aid would take place and thanked everyone for ‘toiling in a difficult vineyard’. The message was that while more resources couldn’t be promised, projects like the Early Legal Advice Pilot Scheme would be used to decide where they would be best invested and prioritised. Both Andrea Coomber KC (Hon) (chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform) and Fiona Rutherford (JUSTICE’s chief executive) then stressed that access to rights would empower people, which saves the state (eg, the criminal justice system) in the long run.

The afternoon started with a presentation on a report commissioned by London Funders, about workforce development challenges. Funders need to invest in skills to develop the next generation. Law for Life then explored greater use of tech tools to challenge decisions. The final session was about funding. A panel of funders and fundraisers stressed that what funding decision-makers want to hear about is impact – the difference advice agencies make for clients. Funders are being more flexible, but it is important to remember that foundations have to fit applications with their own charitable objectives and they can’t replace public services. The conference was then rounded off by LAG’s Sue James in conversation with the public law team from Jackson Lees Group.

Overall, while advice services are facing challenging times, the mood of the conference could probably be best summed up as: ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste.’