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Advocacy In Practice in Cardiff

The Wider Advocacy Landscape

Options for when the issue falls outside the statutory entitlement

Welsh policy is underpinned by a clear principle: advocacy should be available for anyone who needs it. This reflects a genuine commitment to prevention and social justice, recognising that early, independent support can help people navigate systems, assert their rights, and avoid crises before they become entrenched.

The reality, however, is more complicated. Statutory advocacy is only one part of the picture. Around it sits a wider landscape of non‑statutory and project‑based advocacy that changes as funding changes. This page helps you to make sense of that landscape and, crucially, to talk about it honestly with the people you support.

The Threshold: Legal Duty vs Discretionary

👆 Click each card to reveal what it means in practice.

⚖️ Statutory Advocacy What makes it different? Tap to find out

⚖️ A legal duty

When criteria are met, it must be at least offered (in some cases, it must be provided). If it is not, that can be challenged through complaints, legal routes, or governance.

In Practice: When criteria is met, consider the entitlement as non‑negotiable. Your role is to trigger the access.

🔄 Non‑Statutory Advocacy What does "discretionary" really mean? Tap to find out

🔄 Shaped by funding

Whether support exists in a particular area, for a particular issue, at a particular moment is never guaranteed. The need for advocacy is no less real, but provision is not guaranteed.

In Practice: Remember there are options, even when provision isn't there. It's always valuable to seek advocacy when a need is highlighted.

💭 Quick reflection

Think about the last time you supported someone to access advocacy. Were you clear in your own mind whether it was a statutory entitlement or not?

If you are not sure, jot down what made it hard to tell. In the future, these might be situations you can bring to CVAG to help you explore options.

Areas Outside Legislated Provision Where Advocacy Need Is Regularly Identified

The areas below are ones where CVAG and partners regularly see requests for advocacy support that fall outside statutory entitlements. Click each area to explore it.

👩‍⚕️ Primary healthcare and everyday treatment issues

Not every problem with healthcare reaches the threshold for an NHS complaint through Llais, but people may still need independent support to speak up.

Concerns about GP decisions or communication
Issues with prescriptions, medication reviews, or monitoring
Hospital care and treatment concerns that people are reluctant to escalate as a formal complaint

🛠️ In Practice Sometimes, simple information, brief advice, or support to write a letter is enough to resolve issues early. Informal or citizen advocacy may be possible. CVAG can help identify which route is the best next step for that individual.

👩‍👧‍👦 Parents/Guardians feeling unheard or unrepresented around their children's lives

Parents or legal guardians often ask for advocacy in situations that fall outside statutory duties. This may be before, during, or after child protection processes, or when they are in dispute about their child's education or support.

Support in and after child protection proceedings (outside specific projects such as the Parental Advocacy Project)
Disputes around their child's education, placement, or support plan
Meetings where multiple professionals are present and parents feel outnumbered or overwhelmed

🛠️ In Practice Many parents assume that if there is no statutory advocacy duty, there is no help at all. Where specialist projects do exist, they are often time-limited or threshold-based. Checking with CVAG prevents people missing out on support that is available right now.

Social Welfare issues including housing, benefits, and debt

Social welfare issues, including housing difficulties, welfare benefits, and money management, are among the most common reasons people ask for advocacy support outside the statutory framework. In many cases, specialist information, advice, or support services will be the most appropriate first step rather than advocacy itself. These include housing law or support services, welfare rights teams, debt advice, and Citizens Advice.

Non-statutory advocacy may still have a role where a person faces difficulty navigating those services, understanding what is being asked of them, or communicating their situation and wishes. The two can work alongside each other.

Housing

Eviction, possession, or threat of homelessness
Neighbour disputes and anti-social behaviour
Repairs disputes and unsafe or inadequate housing conditions
Inappropriate housing that no longer meets a person's needs

Benefits and Money

Benefit appeals and mandatory reconsiderations
Universal Credit problems, sanctions, and overpayments
Debt and rent arrears
Financial appointeeship concerns

In Practice Before assuming advocacy is the right route, consider whether a specialist service, such as housing law, welfare rights, money advice, is the more appropriate first step. If the person also has difficulty navigating or engaging with those services, non-statutory advocacy may still be relevant and worth exploring with CVAG. Even where no project exists, CVAG will record the need for future decisions.

⚖️ Courts, justice, and disputes with public authorities

People sometimes ask advocacy services for support when they are involved in court processes, facing legal proceedings, or in dispute with the police or other public authorities. It is important to be clear about where advocacy ends and where legal representation begins and to ensure people are directed to the right kind of help.

Important distinction Criminal courts, civil disputes, family proceedings, and youth justice all have established legal frameworks with their own representation routes, including solicitors, barristers, and legal aid for those who cannot afford private representation. These are not gaps that advocacy is designed to fill, and advocacy workers should not be placed in situations where legal advice or representation is what is actually needed.

Where advocacy may still have a legitimate role is in situations that sit alongside or before formal legal processes, particularly where someone needs support understanding what is happening, communicating their situation, or navigating services rather than courts:

Making or navigating a complaint about police conduct through the appropriate complaints process
Understanding what is happening during a safeguarding investigation that involves police, before any legal proceedings begin
Support for victims of crime accessing services, particularly where communication or participation barriers exist

🛠️ In Practice If someone you are supporting is involved in court proceedings or needs legal advice about a criminal, civil, or family matter, the right first step is to help them access legal representation, not advocacy. Refer to a solicitor or signpost to Citizens Advice for initial guidance on eligibility. Where the person also has difficulty communicating or participating in those processes, advocacy need may exist alongside the legal one, but the two should be clearly separated.

Useful routes to know

Citizens Advice - initial legal information and signposting across all areas
Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) - for serious complaints about police conduct
Victim Support - practical and emotional support for victims of crime, including help navigating the justice system

🗂️ Sort It: Statutory or Non‑Statutory?

Read each situation below and decide how you would classify it. Select your answer and see instant feedback.

🏫 Situation 1: A parent wants support to challenge their child's school placement after exclusions.

🏠 Situation 2: A tenant with no care and support needs is facing eviction because of rent arrears.

💷 Situation 3: A person with care and support needs is overwhelmed by a benefits overpayment letter that could affect their ability to pay for care.

📞 Why contacting CVAG still matters when there is "no service"

If you are supporting someone in any of these areas and wondering whether advocacy support is available, contact CVAG. Even where no advocacy project exists, the team will try to identify the best available support, signpost appropriately, and critically record the unmet need. That data is how gaps are identified and how the case for future funding is made.