Please reach us at community@thewestminsterhub.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Volunteers help on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Yes. We can provide community case studies support for residents of Westminster, if you are registered disabled and need assistance for example: with adaption failings or a private company/ provider has created barriers due to your disability.
Yes.
Not unless there is an element that overlaps within this borough, example your are based in Westminster but had to relocate to temporary housing in Lancashire.
We can only provide community case studies casework for residents in City of Westminster. However you are welcome to attend our Smiling Sunday and/or the events, please see the upcoming dates here or drop a message via the forms page.
We are closed during the summer June 1st to August 28th. We also close during Christmas break December 19th to January 13th
There are two ways to prepare for the CCS programme:
1. Online: using the website form, answer the questions, listing the key issues and include two forms of identification. This will prompt an appropriate volunteer to review your file and assess whether or not we can help. It is important to answer all the questions very carefully and in detail.
2. By email: send your key issues and outcomes by emailing it to us with your documents attached. If you have a large quantity of files or struggle to reformat large files please use WeTransfer.com
Whichever you use, it would help us a lot if you could name your documents in a methodical manner. For example:
No. We do not cover employment law, however we can signpost and reccomend good employment solicitors and DAB barristers.
Solicitors Regulatory Authority – you can find a Solicitor via the SRA. Please visit the firm ask relevant questions to your solicitor of choice, also speak to members of the community that have used the firm.
You can also check via our CCS programme, as we have a database of over 100 reviews of excellent solicitors (with teeth). Our database is always updated. Please do not base a decision only from marketing like the Legal 500, there are numerous firms that are undermining natural justice yet still ranked as '1' in the Legal 500 guide, Example, Devonshires LLP
No. We do not provide community case studies for PI claims.
If you are based in City of Westminster and are street homeless you can make “an alert” via StreetLink that will notify the Westminster outreach team. The outreach officers can meet you at your listed location, take your information and place you into a temporary hostel, if available.
The contact info is here: 0300 500 0914 or you can make the alert via their website here
Yes.
Yes we can recommend good surveyors.
The CCS programme can help with searches and provide reviews from members of the community. Please note the RICS database is not the most reliable source, as they do take action when rogues misuse the name or when members of the public complain.
We do not provide community case studies for leaseholders.
Unfortunately we cannot provide unlimited help for every case that comes to us. If we cannot assist, we will always try to signpost or make a direct referral for you to another organisation. We will also let you know in advance if we can't help. We signpost to places that we know has a great track record.
Policies are not law. Nevertheless, they do play a large role in administrative law, providing clarity as to how City of Westminster (a public authority) will exercise a discretionary power. In many cases in relation to the DFG we can help with guidance. We have seen residents challenge public bodies via judicial reviews because they applied a policy in a manner that was unlawful.
Yes. Due to the volume of cases we receive and the small size of the team, it is difficult for us to take on every single case. We cannot guarantee assistance because our volunteers help on a part-time basis and sometimes there is not enough volunteers at that time to commence a new case. If the case involves written and/or oral advocacy, please ensure the deadline is no less than three weeks away. Typically, the above cannot be changed unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Advicenow – provides step-by-step specialist guides, audio and films to help people deal with their legal problems, including step-by-step help for people who want o be their own litigant in person in court and/or if you wan a McKenzie.
We do not provide community case studies for leaseholders
We can help via community case studies. If you have to go to court, a housing adviser can also provide legal advice before the court hearing, there is also an option to find an adviser who can help you with Court advocacy via this scheme: find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk. Insert your postcode and then tick the box ‘Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service’