Archive

Star rating: 3/5.

By Simon Ennals.
LexisNexis
ISBN 0754525694
£49.95

At just under 400 pages, this is clearly a less detailed guide to the benefit system than the acknowledged market leader, the 1,500-page Child Poverty Action Group welfare benefits handbook. And yet still manages to be over 50 per cent dearer, writes Gary Vaux.

Nevertheless, Simon Ennals (once of CPAG) has managed to include some information that CPAG excludes. There are short but informative chapters on home renovation grants, community care financial assessments and child support, for example, as well as the material you would expect on national insurance, means-tested and non-contributory benefits and tax credits.

The guide is reasonably well set out, although chapters do seem rather random. For example, pension credit appears almost tacked on as an afterthought in the final seven pages, which probably doesn't do it justice, given the importance it has for many social work clients. The guide is in danger of falling between two stools- not detailed enough for the welfare rights "techie", not basic enough for the front-line social care worker.

But it would be suitable for social care staff who want to give benefits advice but who are daunted by the CPAG alternative. The latter is still of greater use to the specialist adviser.

Gary Vaux is a welfare rights specialist.