Introduction

Bristol City Council is reviewing a range of its advocacy services for adults. Part of this review includes looking at how the services are currently performing and whether they can be improved.

From this review we have developed a range of proposed options. We want to consult with people who use Advocacy Services (including their networks of support) to get their views on the proposals and whether they think they will meet their needs in the best way possible.
This survey relates to Advocacy Service.

Why are we doing this?

During the Covid-19 pandemic there was a surge in the number of citizens experiencing issues with their mental health and, as a direct result of this, a big increase in the numbers of people needing advocates to help them get their voices heard. This created an unexpected and significant additional demand on advocacy services. Further pressures on advocacy services include changes to government legislation, the council’s duty to comply with the Care Act to ensure that people needing statutory advocacy have access to it, and no additional funding from the Government. As a result the council has to make changes to the way that it supplies advocacy in Bristol.   

Bristol City Council will continue to buy statutory advocacy services as we have a legal responsibility to offer independent advocacy in this area, however there is no similar obligation for us to also provide non-statutory advocacy. Bristol City Council recognises the value of those non-statutory advocacy services to citizens in giving people choice and control and so would prefer to find a way to continue offering them, despite the ever increasing pressures on local authority finances. All of the options we are proposing would allow us to do this.

Types of advocacy

Advocacy means getting support from another person to help you express your views and wishes, and help you stand up for your rights. Someone who helps you in this way is called your “advocate”.

There are two categories of advocacy.

Statutory Advocacy: Statutory advocacy means a person is entitled by law to an advocate, because of their circumstances. Over the past 12 months over 1450 people used  Statutory Advocacy Services in Bristol (over 400 more people than we had expected).

Non-Statutory Advocacy: This kind of advocacy is available when vulnerable people fall outside the eligibility criteria for statutory provision. Over the past 12 months nearly 900 people made use of the non-statutory advocacy services in Bristol which was in line with our expectations.
At the moment Bristol City Council buy advocacy services in four separate contracts with three different providers. If you require further information on the types of advocacy available please visit the Bristol City Council Advocacy web page at Someone to speak for you: advocacy (bristol.gov.uk)

The following survey will seek people’s views on the council’s  proposed options for advocacy services.