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Plus new webinars released and well done to awards-shortlisted clients
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In this late Summer issue

  • How the LIFT Dashboard supported targeted take up for mixed-age pensioners
  • Takeaways and slides from our recent steering groups
  • Deven discussed the findings of the Social Metrics Commissioners Poverty Report on TalkRADIO
  • Congratulations to the finalists of the IRRV and Women in Housing Awards
  • Take part in our research: The impact of Universal Credit in Wales
  • Policy in Practice meets chairs of All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty
The LIFT Dashboard supported targeted Pension Credit campaign
You may be aware that mixed-age couples who would be eligible for Pension Credit under the previous rules had until Tuesday 13 August to make a backdated claim.

Our clients used their LIFT Dashboard to identify the mixed-age couples in their area who were eligible for a backdated claim of between £5,000 to £10,000 per household per year.

Those who were considering a targeted take-up campaign could download the list of eligible households from their benefits take up screen in the LIFT Dashboard. We also developed a range of templated materials to help execute proactive outreach campaigns.
 
Policy in Practice 2019 steering groups
LIFT Dashboard steering group

Last month we heard from both new and experienced clients at the LIFT Dashboard Steering Group. Users shared their success stories of using the Dashboard to proactively identify, engage and track vulnerable households.  We also showed a preview of upcoming Dashboard features and screens depicting the customer journey and set out our planned development roadmap for the year ahead.

Read the key takeaways here
Benefit and Budgeting Calculator steering group

Later in the day, we were joined by some of the users of our award-winning Benefit and Budgeting Calculator who shared their experiences of the calculator and gave feedback on how we can make it even better.
It was a day of shared knowledge, new ideas and plans for the future. On the hottest day of the year we rounded the day off in the pub with a few drinks and some more networking.

Read all the key takeaways here
Save your place at the next steering groups

Our next steering groups will take place on Thursday 23 January 2020. If you would like to attend, please register below to secure your place. Want to attend both steering groups on the day? Register for both and we’ll give you a desk to work at between meetings.
Introducing our new client case study hub
We have revamped our case study page to make it easier to showcase the great work our clients do using our products and services. Watch video testimonials, read full case studies and browse by organisation type or product to learn how Policy in Practice can help you turn insight into action.  
TalkRADIO interview with Deven Ghelani
Policy in Practice's Deven Ghelani was asked by TalkRADIO to give his expert opinion on the findings of the Measuring Poverty 2019 Report by the Social Metrics Commissioner which was released in July. He was interviewed by Alastair Stewart about the deep and persistent nature of poverty as revealed in the report.

Deven said "This report reveals the important challenges facing the new Prime Minister go well beyond Brexit. Boris Johnson can cement his leadership by prioritising support for those in deep and persistent poverty, ensuring everyone in Britain is able to see a pathway to prosperity under his premiership."

Listen back to the interview here.

Good luck to the IRRV Awards and  Women in Housing Awards finalists
IRRV Awards 2019

We would like to send a huge congratulations to our clients who are shortlisted for an Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation Award this year. Our clients have been shortlisted for awards across the following categories including Excellence in Innovation (Service Delivery), Excellent in Partnership Working and Excellence in Non-Domestic Rate.

Women in Housing Awards

A number of our clients were also recently announced as finalists in the Women in Housing Awards in categories including Improving the lives of women or communities (small), Marketing or communications initiative and Inclusion Champion to name but a few.


Well done all, and fingers crossed for the awards ceremonies which both take place in October.

A data led investigation into the impact of Universal Credit in Wales: Survey launch
We're working on a large-scale research project, commissioned by the Welsh Government, to understand how Universal Credit is affecting families in Wales. We're helping the Welsh Government understand how Universal Credit affects both Council Tax Reduction levels and caseload as well as Council tax arrears and rent arrears.

As part of the research, we're asking claimants, stakeholders, and members of frontline organisations to complete an online survey to explore the impacts of Universal Credit in more detail.
If you are a Welsh local authority or housing provider you're invited to take part via the links below.

  1. Arolwg yn Gymraeg
  2. Survey in English
APPG on Poverty and Health parliamentary groups
Deven Ghelani and Sam Timms met the co-chairs of the APPG on poverty, Kevin Hollinrake MP and Neil Gray MP (pictured above), to discuss the potential for Universal Credit data to help tackle poverty. They agreed to sign-up to our call for wider cross-departmental access to Universal Credit data, to help identify and engage vulnerable people, and track the impact of policy interventions.

Juan Alvarez, Senior Policy Analysis, presented evidence on the impacts of the Welfare Reform Act 2016 to the All-Party Parliamentary Health Group in July.
The evidence, based on our research into the impact of the two-child limit to tax credits, found that, for every 1 child in a workless family affected by the benefit cap who subsequently found work, 8 more children were in families that remained stuck on the cap, enduring significant financial hardship. Our analysis also showed that the 2 child limit to Child Tax Credit will push 266,000 more children into poverty, rather than reduce it.

Read our evidence here

At a glance webinars, events and speaking engagements
Tuesday 10 September: Welfare Reforms and Reducing Rent Arrears in 2019
Westminster Briefing, central London. Paul Howarth will speak about policy developments in welfare reforms and developments in Universal Credit. Details here

Thursday 12 September: CPAG Welfare Rights Conference
Child Poverty Action Group, Manchester. Visit our stand where we’ll be talking about Universal Credit and how our Benefit and Budgeting Calculator is used by frontline welfare advisors to help people through change. Details here


Friday 20 September:
Poverty Symposium
Neath Port Talbot Council. Deven Ghelani will speak about how data analytics gives organisations the insights to support vulnerable households to move forward, against a background of Universal Credit and the risk of a debt spiral. Details here


Tuesday 8 to Thursday 10 October: IRRV Annual Conference
Telford. We’re supporting the conference again this year, please visit us on Stand 22. Details here

Wednesday 16 to Friday 18 October: SOLACE Summit 2019
Birmingham. Visit us on stand 1 where we’ll be talking about using data for good and how we combine cutting-edge tech, insightful data analysis and expert policy knowledge to help organisations find relationships in datasets so they can see what’s working, what can be improved, and how. Details here


Wednesday 23 October: Policy in Practice live webinar
How to target your Discretionary Housing Payments well
Details here

Thursday 31 October: LACEF forum
Nottingham. Deven Ghelani has been invited to speak about our early intervention work on arrears with local authorities who are using data analytics insights to do things differently. Details here


Wednesday 13 November: Policy in Practice live webinar
Designing effective data-led intervention campaigns
Details here


Wednesday 11 December: Policy in Practice live webinar
Lessons learned: our year modelling Council Tax Reduction Schemes
Details here

Make a change for good. Work with us

We’re recruiting for exciting roles for people who are ready to make a positive difference.
If you know a great developer or account manager please encourage them to check out our vacancies. Hear what the philosophy of Policy in Practice is, as explained by some of our team, below.


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