Benefits uprating, calcuate next month's exact Universal Credit, Spring Statement and more

In this issue:

Benefit rates uprating
Calculate next month's Universal Credit exactly
Sharing more Universal Credit data with local authorities
Spring Statement: The case for investing in Universal Credit
Lord Freud's book launch
See you there: UKRN, CCW and IRRV Spring Conference
Join our next webinar: The latest innovations in designing Council Tax support schemes
On-demand webinar: How low-income families can benefit from social tariffs
Case study: Croydon Council helps over 200 homes improve their energy efficiency
People news and blog posts

Benefit rates uprating

We are updating our policy engine and therefore our software tools with the new benefits rates as they go live.
Updates include:

Friday 1 April

Legacy benefit thresholds and award values nationally as well as locally set values in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Updates on the cost of living values factoring in energy price cap increases and childcare costs and other living cost increases to help budgeting conversations
National Living Wage
Council Tax Reduction schemes across all our nations. We've reviewed schemes from over 300 councils and identified around 50 that are changing
Tool tips and alerts. We've added new support schemes and additional cost-saving opportunities

Wednesday 6 April

Tax and National Insurance thresholds, Tax Credits and the new Health and Social Care Levy
Statutory Sick Pay

Monday 11 April

Universal Credit standard and work allowances, disability benefits (Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance), child benefit and contributory Job Seekers Allowance/Employment Support Allowance
Pension Credit

We check all council websites but not all Council Tax Reduction schemes have been published by the deadline. If yours has changed but isn’t on your website please let us know.

Similarly, if you have other good resources to add to our alerts please let us know. April is a big update but we add to our alerts throughout the year too.

Now you can calculate next month’s Universal Credit exactly

Last week we introduced a new feature to the Benefit and Budgeting Calculator that tells people exactly what their next Universal Credit payment will be.

The calculator can continue to give a monthly average estimate for the next Universal Credit payment. We've added new functionality to remove uncertainty around future Universal Credit payment amounts.

You can use the next month's Universal Credit feature to help your clients budget, plan and regain autonomy over their income by more accurately predicting how much money they'll have next month. It is ideal for clients with complex employment and earnings situations. Knowing what money is coming in can help people to stay on top of payment commitments and help to avoid debt.

Sharing more Universal Credit data with local authorities

Local authorities take a holistic view when giving support to their vulnerable residents. They want to identify those who need the most help now and in the future, and then target support directly to them accordingly.

We wrote to Chancellor Rishi Sunak following the Spring Statement and Dr Stephen Brien, Chair of the Social Security Advisory Committee, outlining the case for sharing more Universal Credit data with local authorities.

If you are a local authority and you are interested in using Universal Credit data for your prevention work please join our Universal Credit Datashare roundtable. Email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk for details.

Lord Freud and the case for uprating Universal Credit

Lord Freud launched his book Clashing Agendas and Policy in Practice was invited to the launch at the Legatum Institute. We were in the company of Philippa Stroud, Ruth Lister, Neil Couling, and Paul Johnson who discussed the case for uprating Universal Credit. The panel's frustration with fighting the Treasury again on this issue was apparent, and their consensus was that Universal Credit can and should be uprated.

Lord Freud argued that the Department of Work and Pensions was not to blame for Universal Credit complications, rather it was the Treasury who were at fault: ‘These guys don’t understand issues like poverty, welfare. That’s not their job, their job is to cut.’

Read our case for uprating Universal Credit

Speaking appearances: UKRN, CCW Seminar and IRRV Spring Conference

We are delighted to speak at upcoming events about the cost of living crisis and how use of data can help.

UKRN, Thursday 7 April, online
The UK Regulators Network has invited us to speak on Thursday 7 April on the cost of living crisis.

CCW, Wednesday 11 May, Birmingham
Consumer Council for Water has invited us to speak at their water affordability seminar on Wednesday 11 May in Birmingham. We will be talking about our work with leading water authorities to tackle water poverty.

IRRV Spring Conference, Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 May, Leeds
We're exhibiting on stand 17 at IRRV Spring Conference on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 May in Leeds and hosting a workshop on the second day of the conference, titled Income maximisation: three projects that tackle the cost of living crisis. Join us to hear about:

How a County and District Councils collaborate with data to tackle poverty
Automating council tax support awards to Universal Credit claimants
An evaluation framework for the design and delivery of Local Welfare Assistance schemes

Will you be at IRRV Spring Conference? Let us know (we're thinking about hosting drinks)

Case study: Croydon Council helps over 200 homes improve their energy efficiency

The data insights have helped Croydon Council's Energy team to help low-income residents manage their energy bills. Using the LIFT platform for mailshots has generated over 200 resident self-referrals to the service, allowing advisors to spend more time on providing one-to-one support.

During the completed home visits, a total of 1,825 small free energy and water measures have been fitted to the homes, 68 referrals were made to HEAT London and 12 applications made for a Warm Homes Discount.

Read Croydon Council's case study

How low-income families can benefit from social tariffs

Millions of families under pressure from the rising cost of living are missing out on savings on their utility and broadband bills that could make a big difference. Lack of awareness of the support available for families is a problem. This is the challenge we explored in our March webinar with guest speakers Emma Stone, Good Things Foundation, and Daniella Weduwar, Energy UK.

Listen back to learn:

What social tariffs are available from water, energy, broadband and other suppliers
Why take up of social tariffs is low and how this can be addressed
Support tools that can help frontline advisors

View the slides, full webinar recording and clips of each speaker here

March's blog posts

Over a million more people will be in poverty in April as we're worse off than a decade ago
Over a million more people will be in poverty this April says new analysis from Policy in Practice ahead of the Spring Statement 2022.
Read more

Data analysis shows 1 in 4 London households will be in poverty by April
UK poverty rates are hard to understand due to outdated estimates. We look at how administrative data can help fill this gap.
Read more

Celebrating International Women's Day 2022
To celebrate International Women’s Day we share career highlights and challenges women at Policy in Practice have experienced to date.
Read more