|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Missing out: £19 billion of support goes unclaimed each year: July's IRRV Insight article
Our £19 billion report continues to receive coverage, appearing in the July IRRV Insight magazine. In the article Tylor-Maria Johnson identifies the most underclaimed benefits. Read to discover four reasons why benefits go unclaimed, three actions for policymakers, two actions for organisations and one action for families.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Next steps for local authorities tackling financial inequality and linking data
|
|
|
|
|
Our new project examining income volatility and Universal Credit looks at why families on benefits experience income fluctuations. If your council would like
to be part of a research project that aims to understand income volatility and help shape the practical steps to take at a local level read our blog post and sign up here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We're delighted to be shortlisted with Folkestone & Hythe District Council for an IRRV Excellence in Partnership working in Community Involvement and Debt Resolution award. Ask us about our partnership work with Folkestone and Hythe. Find out more about LIFT
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Housing providers: boost financial resilience and empower customers
We were delighted to attend the Nuffield Foundation's 80th anniversary celebration this month and enjoyed hearing speakers raising the need to think in new ways to tackle financial uncertainty, with housing singled out as a root cause.
|
|
|
Housing providers play a crucial role in supporting the financial wellbeing of their customers. Our recent webinar explored the innovative strategies
and initiatives undertaken by housing providers to build the financial strength of individuals and families, empowering them to navigate the challenges posed by rising costs.
Many thanks to our guest speakers:
- Julie Alexander, Manager for Welfare Benefits and Financial Inclusion, Northern Ireland Housing Executive
- Beverley Hiden, Tenancy Sustainability Team Leader, Community Housing
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome to new clients: Camden Council and G2M
|
|
|
|
|
"We are excited to start using the Policy in Practice Better Off Calculator as part of our Cost of Living support. We decided to use this tool as it’s user-friendly, gives useful tips and information and incorporates a budget sheet. The tool will help us assess our residents’ circumstances in more detail and link them in with helpful advice to improve their finances."
Habiba Hussain, Hardship Support Manager, Camden Council
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"G2M is committed to building long term meaningful relationships with our tenants and, as such, are constantly seeking new ways we can support them throughout. We’re delighted to be working with Policy in Practice on the next stage of this and look forward to expanding our partnership as we continue to grow."
Kyle Gardner, Head of Department, G2M
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The impact of cliff edges in low income household support
|
|
|
In July we spoke at the UKDS Family Finance Surveys Users Conference. Our research shows that though work incentives are widely discussed in policy debates, cliff edges in support is the key issue for most low-income households.
We presented research using the Better Off Calculator API to analyse how the reality of incomplete benefit take up, piecemeal support and cliff edges affect work incentives.
|
|
|
We attended the MALG National Members Meeting this month where we were thrilled to see TDX reference our findings from our £19 billion unclaimed benefits research during their Financial Health report.
Support from across sectors can help low income households claim benefits they are eligible for. Find out how your sector can provide support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Income maximisation in utilities: how to boost social tariff take-up
|
|
|
We joined the panel at the NWL Innovation Festival to discuss income maximisation in the utilities sector. The Better Off Calculator has enabled Northumbrian Water to raise awareness of the £900 million in unclaimed water social tariffs yearly, simplify the application process, and offer holistic consumer support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shining the spotlight on the impact of policy on low income households
|
|
|
Research published this month by the Nuffield Foundation on the effects of the benefit cap and the two child limit presents a strong case for ending both. Deven Ghelani appeared on LBC Radio to talk through the two-child policy and how abolishing it could
be highly effective at tackling child poverty. Listen back here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Members of our Policy and Research teams spoke at the Social Policy Association Conference in Nottingham in July. The theme of the conference was ‘Rising Inequalities and Poverty: What Role for Social Policy?’We were pleased to talk to attendees about the impact of variations in Universal Credit sanction rates, how benefit
deductions impact household welfare and the benefit of using administrative data for social policy research. We talked about the role of social policy in low-income households last month as we published our research on the additional childcare support available to families on Universal Credit, which was picked up by The Sun.
|
|
|
Our research team attended the launch of the Wel-Fair Collective, a group of researchers, activists and service providers
working to address the health effects of welfare policy.
The group is newly established with no online presence, but do get in touch at research@policyinpractice.co.uk if you would like to learn more or would be interested in joining future meetings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Consumer feedback: Our Better Off Calculator gets 4.76 stars
Thank you to everyone who voted and left us a review for the Consumer Credit Awards, we were thrilled to read your feedback. The Better Off Calculator is currently rated 4.76 out of 5 stars, so thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| We raised £310 for NHS Charities Together
|
|
|
This month we partnered with Huckletree to host a cake sale celebrating the
75th birthday of the NHS.
We are thrilled to have raised over £300 for NHS Charities Together as a result, smashing our £250 target.
A big thank you to our incredible bakers, and to those who donated.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jobs at Policy in Practice
|
|
|
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:
|
|
|
|
|
