Data-led campaigns drive uptake of £1.7 billion in unclaimed Pension Credit
New analysis on Council Tax arrears presented at Crown Commercial Service
Tools to help people impacted by debt amid cost of living crisis
Deven Ghelani chairs Trussell Trust event at LGA Conference
LIFT helps local authorities get
financial support to most in need
Housing in 2022: How local authorities can deliver vital funds to residents
LIFT Community Workshop
Next webinar: How to identify and support Just About Managing households using data
June’s blog posts
People news and jobs
Data-led campaigns drive uptake of £1.7 billion in unclaimed Pension Credit
The DWP held a day of action on 15 June to tackle underclaimed Pension Credit worth £1.7 billion.
We highlighted local authorities’ use of administrative data to identify households eligible for Pension Credit. LIFT has enabled local authorities to secure an average of £2,500 per household per year.
New Analysis on Council Tax arrears presented at Crown Commercial Service
On 16 June we presented our case for flexible council tax arrears collection to the Crown Commercial Service category forum. The talk followed on from us earning a place on the Debt
Resolution Services framework contract.
Led by Zoe Charlesworth and Jade Alsop, we focused on the evidence we
submitted to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities Committee.
Our Benefit and Budgeting Calculator is being developed as a digital
tool giving income maximisation and debt support in one place for the first time.
Tools to help people impacted by debt amid cost of living crisis
The cost of living crisis has forced many people to look at their personal debt. We are working with partners in the debt sector to build debt support into the Benefit and Budgeting Calculator. By creating an income and expenditure tool, we are bringing income maximisation into the heart of debt conversations.
Tying in to this work, Policy in Practice attended the launch of Christians Against Poverty’s client debt report at the House of Lords on 20 June.
The key findings show the devastating impact of rising debts:
14% rise in priority debts
40% increase in calls to helpline
30% increase in suicidal thoughts
We gained a lot of insight from attendees on the impact of escalating costs on their customers.
Deven Ghelani to chair Trussell Trust cost of living event at LGA Conference
Deven Ghelani has been invited to chair the LGA conference in Harrogate on Wednesday 29 June. This follows on from his media appearances on LBC Radio and in the MJ talking about the cost of living crisis.
The talk, hosted by the Trussell Trust, looks at the roles councils can play to improve the financial resilience of households. This in turn can signal the end of the need for community food banks.
LIFT helps local authorities get financial support to most in need
A key focus of our LIFT platform and Benefit & Budgeting Calculator is in helping local authorities to actively administer funds into the hands of the people who need them.
As part of our ongoing commitment to this, Policy in Practice collaborated with Lightning Reach and Cash Perks in a joint webinar on 14 June to discuss best practices for delivering financial hardship schemes.
The event highlighted how collaboration across organisations can integrate standalone systems to provide even more effective results.
Policy in Practice later attended the cross-sector roundtable event at Lambeth Town Hall on 20 June, hosted in part by Lightning Reach. We gained some valuable insight into the impact of collaboration across charities, local authorities and private tech for good companies to improve access to financial support.
We also
wrote to the new Cost of Living Business Tsar, David Buttress to share the impact our clients are having with local benefit take-up campaigns, and how this can be scaled nationally.
Housing in 2022: How local authorities can deliver vital funds to residents
We were thrilled to join the National Housing Federation on their 20 June webinar. Deven Ghelani discussed managed migration to Universal Credit during the cost of living crisis, highlighting the new features
we have built into our benefits calculator to help those hit the hardest. Another big focus was on the ways local authorities can help residents financially, with council tax reduction a key factor.
“Many of the members of our national WR group have highlighted that they find PiP’s benefits calculator the most comprehensive.”
With housing such a crucial topic within the cost of living crisis, we are excited to be attending Housing 2022 at Manchester Central this week.
Do call in and see us at stand C72 if you are going. We have some exciting new merchandise to share with you, and will be running a prize draw where you can win £50 for the charity of your
choice.
LIFT Community Workshop
Our latest LIFT Community Workshop took place on 21 June. The workshops create a forum where users of the LIFT platform can ask
questions and receive demonstrations of the latest updates. In this workshop we covered the new screens available within LIFT:
Intervention screen
UC screen
Mosaic data screen
EPC data screen
Also discussed was the benchmarking work across LIFT clients, as well as a look into discretionary funding and CTS automation and take up.
Next webinar: How to identify and support Just About Managing households using data
Wednesday 06 July, 10.30 to 11.45
The government has said it wants to make life easier for the 'squeezed middle' or people who are
just about managing. These are the families who are not rich and they are also not those on the lowest incomes. Despite most being in work, they are struggling to meet their cost of living and it is no wonder.
Local authorities must help families who are struggling now to avoid a crisis down the line yet they have little visibility over people who are not already claiming benefits. However, analysis of datasets can give a clearer picture of families who are just about managing.
Join this webinar to learn:
Who is just about managing now but at risk in the future due to the rising cost of living
Which datasets can be used to identify families in danger of debt
How local authorities can target support to avert crisis
Safeguarding datashare tool, MAST, shortlisted for Digital Leaders 100 awards 2022 Safeguarding datashare tool, MAST, has been shortlisted in the Big Data Innovation category of this year’s Digital Leaders 100 awards. The 10th annual Digital Leaders 100 list highlights the latest champions of digital transformation across the UK. Read post
How to increase take up of unclaimed Pension Credit worth £1.7 billion using data Roughly a million eligible pensioners are missing out on unclaimed Pension Credit. The DWP is reminding people that support is available. In this blog post we look at local authorities using data to increase uptake of Pension Credit, and the difference they are making to people’s lives. Read post Mind the benefit cap: why families are still falling through our welfare system The government’s latest statistics reveal that 120,000 families had their benefits capped in February 2022. This blog explores the benefit cap’s effect on families as living costs rise, and gives one potential solution to the financial pressure. Read post
People news and jobs
We say hello and extend a very warm welcome to the new members of the team:
Magda Rossetti Youlton, Senior Research Analyst
Chris Moss, Business Account Manager
Amy Bassi, Client Services Manager
Jonathan Flowers has also joined us as a Consultant, helping Policy in Practice engage at the senior director level.
We also say thank you and goodbye to James Rawlins and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
