Welfare Rights Advice and Money Adviser for Almond Housing Association Tenants
Salary: £28,795.45 - £30,523.99 (pro rata) - Pro rata for 18 hours: £13,290.20 - £14,087.99
Hours: 18 hours per week - worked over 3 days (or more if preferred)
Fixed term until 31st March 2028
Location: Almond Housing Association offices- Livingston and West Lothian area, or home-based. If home-based, you will be required to spend 1-2 days each week in Almond offices and attend meetings in person in West Lothian and Edinburgh.
Holding a full, valid driving licence would be advantageous, but is not required for this role.
Closing date: Monday, 6th July 2026 at 12 pm.
Welfare Benefits and Money Adviser – Almond Housing Association Tenants
Make a positive difference to the lives of people, including those with disabilities and support needs.
The Action Group’s Advice Service seeks an Adviser to join its accredited Advice Services. In this role, you will maximise people’s income through providing expert benefits advice, support, and representation for people who are tenants of Almond Housing Association.
You need to be warm and approachable, have excellent verbal, written and organisational skills and an eye for detail. In return, you will join a supportive and highly professional team of advisers and undertake rewarding work.
A good understanding of welfare benefits, or experience of working with people with support needs, is highly desirable.
Applicants will be digitally competent. They will show a good understanding of equality and diversity issues and a commitment to support people from marginalised groups.
This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK without requiring sponsorship
To learn more about our recruitment process, please click the link - Our Recruitment Process
To support our commitment to a fair and inclusive recruitment process, we invite all candidates to optionally complete the
- Equal Opportunities Form for Applicants
- Equality Statement | The Action Group
The Action Group values diversity in our workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. As a Disability Confident Leader organisation, we particularly encourage applications from people with disabilities, and offer a guaranteed interview for anyone who meets the essential criteria for the role. We also strongly encourage and welcome applications from people from minority ethnic backgrounds and other underrepresented groups. If you require any adjustments to take part in the recruitment process, please let us know, and we will do our best to support you.
This is a regulated role and requires PVG Disclosure Scotland membership.
As part of our recruitment process, candidates who have lived outside the UK for more than 12 months in the last 10 years will be required to provide a Criminal Convictions Certificate (or equivalent) from the relevant country or countries. Please note that the cost of obtaining this certificate will be the responsibility of the candidate.
If you need any support or adjustments during the application process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are committed to making this process as accessible as possible for everyone.
The Action Group Recruitment [email protected] 0131 285 5207
About The Role
The Action Group is working in partnership with Almond Housing Association to provide an expert Welfare Benefits Advice service to its tenants. This will be done by:
Directly providing a comprehensive (Type III) Welfare Rights advice and representation service. Together with a colleague, you will work with 120-160 referrals each year.
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Helping people to understand their entitlements and meet their responsibilities.
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Providing Type I debt advice. Identifying where people have debt issues and connecting them into Money Advice services.
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Assisting people to budget directly and connecting them into agencies that can assist
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Providing information, training and back-up advice to other professionals (particularly to Housing Officers)
The post holder will also have a role to Identify where individuals have wider support or advice needs and assist them to access agencies and services that can help.
The post will require a flexible approach which may include occasional evening or weekend working. The Action Group is accredited to the Scottish National Standards for information and Advice Providers. You will work to set standards for delivering quality advice services.
1. Advice, Advocacy and Representation
Provide information and advice to people (this may include disabled people, people with support needs, carers, and professionals who work with them). This advice is delivered by telephone, on digital platforms, by letter, email, and by personal appointments (both office-based and home visits).
Review income and expenditure as appropriate, provide Type I money advice and connect people into ongoing budgeting and Money Advice, when needed.
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Check benefit entitlement and when needed, provide individual support in pursuing relevant claims and appeals.
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Carry out ‘Better Off’ calculations to help people understand how their financial situation will look if they take up employment.
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Assist people with a wide range of advice tasks - from application completion to detailed case-work and appeal representation.
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Provide strategies and solutions to complex cases
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Organise own caseload and manage case recording within team standards
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Liaise with external agencies on behalf of people (where needed).
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Act as a specialist resource for professional workers from a variety of agencies, in order to ensure that advice reaches as many people as possible.
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Identify other issues that are impacting on people and signpost/refer (as appropriate) to other agencies and services that might benefit them, Keep up-to-date with legislative changes.
2. Coaching and training
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Coach and mentor people to develop their knowledge and confidence in dealing with benefits, benefits agencies and their finances
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Develop tools and systems that people can use to help them manage their benefit and financial responsibilities
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Support people to liaise with agencies
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Develop and deliver presentations, workshops and training sessions on advice issues, to a variety of audiences.
3. Monitoring and Reporting on activities of the service
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Keep full, accurate records of clients who have been advised.
- Monitor and report on activities of the project
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Compare outcomes with targets for the project and make necessary adjustments to the service to enhance it.
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Identify and report on issues affecting people you are working with
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Attend progress meetings with project funders as required
4. Promoting the Service and raising awareness of benefit entitlements
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Develop strong networking and partnership working relationships with internal and external partners.
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Assist with the production of written advice materials, articles for journals, publicity materials, take up campaigns etc.
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Promote the service through a variety of methods
5. Contributing to a Quality Service
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Be familiar with, and work within, all organisational and Team policies and procedures
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Participate in all necessary training
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Contribute to service user consultation efforts and assist in the production of explicit service standards, reviews, evaluations and annual reports on service improvement.
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Encourage understanding of the complaints procedure amongst people using the service. Maintain a good understanding of equality and diversity issues and a commitment to supporting people from marginalised groups.
6. Other Duties
This job description is not intended to be exhaustive and the post holder may be required to perform other duties on occasion.
High standards of confidentiality are required in relation to the roles, tasks and responsibilities described above
The post holder will regularly meet their line manager for supervision as outlined in the Group’s performance management policy.
9. Amendments This job description may be amended following discussions with the post holder and with approval from the Senior Manager HR
1. General Duties (these are applicable to all The Action Group staff)
General Responsibilities
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Undertake your own and general administrative duties such as updating Advice Pro casework system and chairing or taking minutes of team meetings
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Contribute to Team-wide initiatives such as take-up campaigns
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Assist in organisational tasks, such as maintenance of information resources.
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Contribute to other tasks that may be required for the effective delivery of the service
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Adhere to both The Action Group’s health and safety policies at all times, as well as those of the organisation where you are primarily based.
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Contribute to the team by communicating openly, fully and effectively with others at all times, taking a share of all team duties and supporting colleagues with casework issues
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Assess and manage the risks involved in lone working
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All advisers are expected to have a good understanding of equality and diversity issues and a commitment to supporting people from marginalised groups
Required Criteria
Skills Needed
About The Company
Our History
The Action Group was set up in 1976 by a group of parents and carers of people who had learning disabilities and other support needs. They began by campaigning for better services for the people they cared about in the local area of Leith and Restalrig. This group, who all lived in the north east of Edinburgh, took the name Area 5 Action Group from the Social Work Department’s area in which they lived.
Providing and Improving Learning Disability Care for Over 45 Years
The Action Group was, and continues to be, a membership organisation with the twin aims of campaigning for, and providing, good community care services. In 1976, services and supports in the community were few and far between and large institutions and hospitals, like Gogarburn in Edinburgh, were the main service for children and adults.
Locally, The Area 5 Action Group ran a high profile political and media campaign to get learning disability and support needs on the agenda. It also explored ways to develop service-provision
By 1985, now called The North Edinburgh Action Group, membership had grown and service users came from all over Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian and Midlothian.
By 1992, with development plans focussing across an even wider area, a further name change to The Action Group was made.
Over the years the Action Group has been at the forefront of campaigning for and providing high quality community services.
Company Culture
The Vision
That Families caring for a person and individuals who have support needs and/or Learning Disability encounter no barriers to their chosen lifestyle, are able to follow a path of choice and can enrich their opportunities.
The Mission
To Value, listen and involve people so that our every action is judged to be the best.
The Values
An ordinary life includes the 5 accomplishments which derives from the work of John O'Brien.
These values are at the heart of the organisation.
People accessing our services should have:
Community presence - Relationships
Competency - Respect - Choice
Company Benefits
Looking to make a difference?
Make a difference in your community and in people’s lives by becoming a support worker with us!
Your goal will be to help people with additional support needs to gain or maintain their independence, and going about their lives in general, to support with work, health and wellbeing, or attending and participating in activities.
HSF Health Plans for The Action Group Full-time & Part-time employees
HSF Perkbox - HSF Assist
Accredited Living Wage Employer
Good annual leave entitlements
Travel time payable where applicable
Ongoing support, training and development opportunities
Pension
Blue Light Card
Blue Light Card, On the job learning
Salary
Starting from £13,290.20 per year
