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In this issue:
- Adequacy of benefits: our evidence to Parliamentary committees
- Product news: CTR toolkit, Better Off Calculator scores 4.85 / 5
- Welcome to our new clients
- Out and about: June events and media appearances
- Webinars: Listen back to June's webinars and sign up for July's
- Data led campaign: How to give 8,500 Londoners up to £3,700 of unclaimed Pension Credit
- Blog posts in June
- Jobs at Policy in Practice
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| Adequacy of benefits: our evidence to Parliamentary committees
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| This month Deven was invited to give evidence at the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
Deven shared that benefits are down by 7.5% in real terms from a decade ago with one in six households on working age benefits facing a shortfall from month to month.
Deven argued for Universal Credit data to be used to proactively widen access to support and evaluate the impact of interventions.
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Deven said: “Universal Credit offers an incredible backbone to better target this support. We work with local government to better target support, using Universal Credit data more effectively across government can make sure support is proactively targeted to those who need it the most."
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The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Poverty aims to increase understanding of poverty among parliamentarians and to seek all-party solutions. We gave evidence for their report "Enough to be able to love, not just survive." Our data showed that the need for a number of additional top-up provisions such as cost of living
payments, the household support fund and energy, and council tax rebates, highlights a shortfall in the amounts awarded, and cannot currently meet people’s needs Read the full report here |
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Help your residents to claim Council Tax Support with our free toolkit
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We have put together a Council Tax support take up toolkit for local authorities. The toolkit contains material for councils to use in their communications to encourage residents to claim Council Tax support that they may be eligible for. Access the toolkit hereGet in touch on hello@policyinpractice.co.uk if you have any questions or would like further information |
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| Join us at an IncomeMax event at the House of Commons
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We’re delighted to be speaking at a parliamentary event hosted by IncomeMax on Wednesday 19th July. The theme is “Income Maximisation – Reclaiming the billions owed to the vulnerable in society” and the event seeks to broaden the understanding of income maximisation, and discuss how we ensure that people are
placed at the heart of welfare policy and decision making. Deven Ghelani will be speaking alongside other industry experts including IncomeMax CEO Lee Healey and Senior Manager of Financial Inclusion at the Trussell Trust, Emma Schoolar as well as vice-chair of the APPG on Debt and Personal Finance, Paul Maynard MP. Liz Barclay, former Chair of the Financial Inclusion Commission is chairing. The event will take place in the Churchill Room, House of Commons from 13.30 with a drop-in and networking session to follow at around 15:30. There are limited spaces, but if you would like to join us, please RSVP to isla.tweed@lexcomm.co.uk. |
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| Consumer Credit Awards: Please vote for Policy in Practice and read our Better Off Calculator reviews
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We've entered the Better Off Calculator into the Consumer Credit Awards and would love your feedback to help us win. We're running in the Best Financial Support Provider category with our Better Off Calculator and every one of your votes helps us on our way to a win. By leaving a review of the calculator you provide us with one vote and also give yourself a chance of winning £1,000. Vote for us by leaving a review hereThank you to those who have already voted. Here is some great feedback we've received so far: |
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The Better Off Calculator is scoring 4.85 out of 5 so far. Finalists are announced on 19 July so vote now!
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| Welcome to new clients: Dukes Bailiffs, Milton Keynes City Council and West Sussex County Council
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"We are delighted to announce our exciting partnership with Policy in Practice, through which we will be offering our debtors access to their highly effective benefit calculator. This collaboration forms a vital cornerstone of our income maximization strategy, aimed at assisting families in identifying and obtaining the benefits they rightfully qualify for. By doing so, we not only significantly improve their financial well-being, but also play a pivotal role in proactively preventing homelessness and guiding them towards a debt-free future.
"By leveraging the power of Policy in Practice's benefit calculator, we can maximize our collections while
maintaining a compassionate and responsible approach. This not only ensures improved financial outcomes but also strengthens our commitment to ethical collections practices and the overall welfare of our client’s residents."
Sarah Naylor, Sales Director, Dukes Bailiffs
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"At MKCC we wanted to be in the position to provide our customers a holistic approach to support. We are carrying out some proactive campaigns over the summer and whist engaging with our customers through these campaigns we want to make sure they are fully informed on what support they may be entitled to that may help better their financial situation."
Mary Swanston, Revenues and Benefits Service Delivery Manager, Milton Keynes City Council
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"We are looking forward to utilising LIFT to help target and support communities most in need and working collaboratively with District and Borough colleagues to help vulnerable households resilience to the cost of living pressures."
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| Peter Lawrence, Partnerships & Communities Team Manager, West Sussex Council
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| We had a bumper month of events in June and loved getting to speak to so many of you in locations across the UK and across sectors.
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Digital
Leaders WeekAbigail Everett and Deven Ghelani spoke at Digital Leaders Week about the £19 billion in unclaimed benefits and its impact on social outcomes. Understanding who is missing out, and why, is crucial for designing effective policies and proactive interventions. Watch the webinar here
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Rethinking Poverty, Insecurity, and the Cost of Living Crisis in the North West and beyondAbigail Everett spoke at the Rethinking Poverty event hosted by Liverpool Hope University. In her talk, Abigail highlighted how a data-led London-wide Pension Credit campaign is replicable throughout the UK. View the slides here
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| We also exhibited at four events this month.
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Shelter Cymru People and Homes Conference
We heard how the cost of living crisis and maximising income for vulnerable people in Wales is a big priority. We are helping to tackle this via our policy analysis.
Read our report for the Bevan Foundation on the feasibility of a Welsh Benefits System
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Public Finance Live 2023We had fantastic conversations with public bodies about the better use of data. We also discussed the struggles of councils' finance teams and needing to do more with less. Read about how Kent County and district councils have collaborated with data to tackle poverty
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Future of Utilities SummitMaximising income for vulnerable people and integrating technology into existing processes were key themes across the conference.
Read the Anglian Water case study on building an API to help customers apply for social tariffs
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Housing 2023We were delighted to speak with delegates from local authorities, housing associations, government, and other key partners on the work we are doing to identify and support vulnerable households in maximising their income. Read how two housing providers are maximising income for residents
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| Deven discusses Universal Basic Income and unaffordable housing, Tylor-Maria Johnson suggests solutions to low benefit take-up: our June media appearances
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On BBC Radio London with Jim Davis, Deven commented on calls for a Universal Basic Income and how that could work. Deven argued that making Universal Credit more accessible is a key platform for building a Universal Basic Income. Listen back
here |
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Deven joined Shelagh Fogarty at LBC to discuss new research from the Institute of Fiscal Studies. They found that only 1 in 20 private rentals are affordable for people on Housing Benefit.
Deven suggested that In the short term the government should increase Local Housing Allowance so that a third of properties in each local area is affordable.
In the long term, we need to build more and make it cheaper to own your home one third of properties in a local area should be affordable
Listen back here
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Senior Policy and Data Analyst, Tylor-Maria Johnson, wrote a guest blog for Quids in! Pro, a network for professionals helping low income households to improve their financial wellbeing. Exploring the findings of our latest report, Missing Out: £19 billion of support unclaimed each year, Tylor-Maria shares the causes of low take
up and what action can be taken. Read the full article |
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Policy in Practice analysis on childcare lands in the Sun.
From Wednesday 28 June, parents in families on Universal Credit will be able to claim back childcare costs up to £951 a month for one child and £1,630 a month for two or more children.
Whilst this will ease the financial strain on families, our analysis shows that covering 100% of childcare costs would better encourage parents into work.Read the full blog postRead the Sun article
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Free webinar: How housing providers are boosting the financial strength of customers during the cost of living crisis
Wednesday 26 July from 10:30 to 11:45
With
guest speaker Beverley Hiden, Tenancy Sustainability Team Leader, Community Housing Group
Register here for the webinar
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On demand webinar: A common approach to Welsh benefits: results from a feasibility studyThe Bevan Foundation recognises the importance of the grants and allowances provided by the Welsh Government and local authorities to low-income households. The Foundation proposes that this support should be brought together into a single framework coined as the Welsh
Benefits System.To turn this vision into reality the Bevan Foundation commissioned Policy in Practice to assess how to implement a common approach to Welsh benefits focusing on data requirements.Listen back to learn about:- Findings from the study that show how this approach could put millions of pounds-worth of unclaimed benefits in to the pockets of low-income households
- Practical actions that the Welsh Government could take to establish comprehensive arrangements
- Immediate actions that the Welsh Government could take using data to boost take up for low income families missing out during the cost of living crisis
Many thanks to all our speakers:- Dr Steffan Evans, Head of Policy (Poverty), The Bevan Foundation
- Zoe Charlesworth, Associate Policy and Research Lead, Policy in Practice
- Jack Rowlands, Policy and Data Analyst, Policy in
Practice
Listen back here
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On demand webinar: Missing out: How different sectors are closing the £19 billion unclaimed benefits gapA new report from the Financial Conduct Authority shows that nearly 11 million people are now struggling to meet bills and credit repayments. This equates to over 16% of the UK population.
Listen back to learn about:
- New research by Policy in Practice which shows that £19 billion of benefits and support is unclaimed each year
- The reasons benefits go unclaimed including lack of awareness, stigma and the increasingly fragmented nature of support
- Hear what experts from different sectors describe what financial vulnerability means to them and their customers, and what they’re doing to tackle it
Many thanks to all our speakers:
- Sally Cannell, Continuous Improvement Analyst, Anglian Water
- Sharon Gill, Customer Relations Manager, EDF Energy
- Adrian McDowell, Senior Policy and Projects Officer, Greater London Authority
- Rosi Avis, Partnership and Communication Lead, Citizens Advice Manchester
- Julie Alexander, Welfare Benefits and
Financial Inclusion Manager, Northern Ireland Housing Executive
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| How to give 8,500 Londoners up to £3,700 of unclaimed Pension Credit: June's IRRV Insight article
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Each month, we publish an article in the IRRV Insight magazine. Our June article, by Abigail Everett, Client Services Manager, focuses on the successes of the pan-London Pension Credit campaign run in partnership with the Greater London Authority, London Councils and Age
UK, and the potential outcomes for other regions of the UK running similar campaigns.Read the articleRead the original blog post
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June's blog posts
Benefit levels in the UK: Policy in Practice’s evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee
UK benefit levels are 7.5% lower than a decade ago. Read Deven Ghelani’s evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on their adequacy.
Read the blog post
How new extra support for childcare will help
families on Universal Credit
Families on Universal Credit can claim back more of the cost of childcare from Wednesday 28 June but we ask if the policy goes far enough.
Read the blog post
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| Jobs at Policy in Practice
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Want to join us? If you share our passion for using data and technology to change lives, we'd love to hear from you. See our latest vacancies:
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