Advice service outcomes

We are happy to report that 90% of people we supported were satisfied with the help they received, and 99% would recommend us to a friend. 

In addition to clients’ perceived satisfaction, it is also crucial for us to assess the effectiveness of our advice. Key data  highlighting the outcomes of our casework is provided below.

Employment advice outcomes

First and foremost, we want our employment advice to empower people to stand up for their rights in the workplace. From the 344 requests we received, we were able to provide in-depth legal advice to 159 individuals, supporting the others with general information and signposting - this has been an especially busy year. We are proud to say that 97% of clients who received employment rights advice from our team reported knowing more about their rights. 

In 2024 we also saw many of our Employment Tribunal cases come to fruition, with 11 Tribunal hearings listed for autumn alone. For cases we took on in 2023 and 2024, we have recovered  unpaid wages and obtained other forms of compensation for 27 clients, totalling £297,394. This takes the total money recovered by the charity to more than £500,000.

It’s important to note that here we report money recovered for clients based on the year of their enquiry, rather than when the compensation was awarded. Most of our 2024 cases are still being prepared by our team, conciliated by ACAS, or waiting to be heard by the Employment Tribunal, which explains the low 2024 figure in the table below. For our next impact report, we are planning to record data on the time the compensation was awarded.

Immigration advice outcomes

In assessing the outcomes of our immigration advice and casework, we focus on how many people we supported with understanding and securing their immigration status in the UK. 

From the 653 immigration enquiries we received this year, we had capacity to provide in-depth advice to 498 people in 2024, supporting the others with information (including our bespoke immigration rights guides) and signposting. We are pleased to see that 93% of those who answered our feedback calls found the advice helpful.

We also submitted 60 life-changing applications for immigration status in 2024. While it can take many months for the Home Office to make a decision, we are pleased to report that, when a decision was received, it was always positive.

For the first time, in 2024 we were also able to support people with contesting erroneous or unfair Home Office decisions. We have now submitted four successful appeals - two for family visas and two for late EUSS applications. This year we also submitted our first successful Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter, reversing the rejection of a Ukraine Extension Scheme application.

Finally, we have worked on an increasing number of fee waiver and change of conditions applications (lifting “No Recourse to Public Funds’ conditions). When granted, these applications can be life-changing for vulnerable migrants who cannot afford the thousands of pounds in Home Office fees, and who are often pushed into becoming undocumented by financial hardship. 

Since the start of 2024, we submitted 24 successful fee waiver applications, allowing our financially disadvantaged clients to apply for their status for free. We also submitted 15 change of conditions applications. We are waiting to hear back for 13 of these, but two have already been granted, giving our clients crucial access to public funds.