Analysis on benefits uprating, Free School Meals, helping people in energy poverty and more

In this issue:

Households set to be £395 worse off per year unless benefits are uprated by inflation
Policy in Practice analysis backs calls for Free School Meals for all families on Universal Credit
Stop households falling in to fuel poverty with new Cost of Living and EPC data screens in LIFT
Tools to fight poverty during London Challenge Poverty Week
Free webinar: Building a path out of in-work poverty
Awards and Events roundup
Join us at our Christmas networking drinks!
Join our heartwarming 12 Days of Christmas campaign
October’s blog posts
People news and jobs

Jamie Oliver has called for Free School Meals to be extended to all families on Universal Credit in England. As nearly one in five low-income families experienced food insecurity in September 2022, more people going hungry than during the first weeks of the Covid lockdown, teachers have joined in the call to extend them.

Policy in Practice has previously written on the impact of extending Free School Meals (FSM) to all households on Universal Credit. Families currently lose entitlement once their earnings rise above £7,400 a year. As a result, families earning just above the threshold can be significantly worse off than those earning just below.

In 2021 we modelled the impact on extending FSM to all Universal Credit recipients in Wales. This analysis for the Bevan Foundation showed that the savings to these newly eligible households, based on a value of £3.90 per meal, would be worth £20.9M per year if all households take-up FSM.

The report encouraged the Welsh government to fully extend FSM to all households on Universal Credit, showing that it's possible to enact this policy across the UK.

Read the Bevan Foundation report
Read our blog

Two new screens have been added to LIFT with a focus on Cost of Living and EPC data.

The new Cost of Living screen shows which households are:
In a cash shortfall and in fuel poverty now
Projected to be in cash shortfall and fuel poverty based on inflation and £2500 energy bill cap
Projected to be in cash shortfall and fuel poverty as above, and have support measures in place

This can be used to target support households that were not eligible for cost of living support payments, and/or may struggle with higher energy costs.

EPC data in LIFT will allow users to:
Target Green funding by identifying households with the lowest EPC rating to target with practical support such as new boilers, or with advice around energy efficiency

Use discretionary funding such as HSF to target households with lower EPC ratings whose bills will therefore be higher

Provide a fuller picture to better target prevention cases by cross referencing a household’s income, debt, EPC rating and impacts of any welfare reforms

Find out more about LIFT

We supported London Challenge Poverty Week by sharing our analysis on the impact of the cost of living crisis across London. Following our analysis on in-work poverty from 2021 that found that a single parent working full-time on the National Living Wage in London would be worse off by £1,035 a year by April 2022, we have updated our analysis for 2023 and will explore this in our November webinar.

Find out more about our tools that can help low-income families:

GLA Entitlement Checker
Better Off Calculator

Free webinar: Building a path out of in-work poverty
Wednesday 23 November, 10.30 to 11.45

Tackling in-work poverty is vital to growing the financial strength of families and helping them to avoid crises. Despite increases to the National Living Wage, levels of poverty within working households continue to rise.

The government promotes work as the best route out of poverty yet this is not always guaranteed. We know that 75% of children growing up in relative poverty live in a household where at least one person works (DWP, 2021).

Analysis by Policy in Practice from 2021 found that a single parent working full-time on the National Living Wage would be worse off by £1,035 a year by April 2022. We have updated our analysis to show where that household would be now, and where they're likely to be in 2023.

Join this webinar to learn:

Brand new analysis on how many low-income working families are in relative poverty
How in-work poverty has risen since the end of the pandemic supports and how it is forecasted to change in 2023
What practical actions frontline organisations and local authorities can take to support low-income working families

Register to automatically receive the slides and recording

IRRV Performance Awards
Congratulations to Folkestone and Hythe District Council on their well deserved win as Benefits and Welfare Reform Team of the Year at the IRRV awards. They were also highly commended for their submission in the Excellence in Social Inclusion category. Well done to the team!

Congratulations also go to London Borough of Redbridge who were shortlisted in the Benefits and Welfare Reform Team of the Year category, and Gravesham Borough Council who were shortlisted in the Excellence in Innovation (Service Delivery) and Excellence in Social Inclusion categories.

We are spreading some much-needed cheer this Christmas by sharing your 2022 success stories.

Simply send us your stories via this short six question survey and we will showcase and celebrate achievements you’ve had this year.

Whether it was helping people into employment, maximising residents’ income, or something in between we want to hear from you.

We will then publish your stories over twelve days in the run-up to Christmas.

To say thank you, each story will be entered into a prize draw to win one of two prizes of a £50 donation to your chosen charity.

Share your good news stories from 2022