Leeds City Council Analyses the Cumulative Impact of Welfare Reforms to Tackle Poverty and Deprivation
The Council knew that welfare reforms were going to have a big impact in the city overall, but they had no way of knowing the impact that future reforms like Universal Credit would have. By running its housing benefit data through Policy in Practice’s Universal Benefit Calculator they were able to understand the impact at an aggregate level and to pin point exactly how each household is affected by welfare reforms.
The Problem
The city of Leeds has a vision to be the best city in the UK by 2030. Leeds City Council will play its part by aiming to become the best council in the country.
In particular, the Council needed to understand the cumulative impact that current and future of welfare reforms would have on individual households. This would help them to understand the experience from the resident’s perspective.
The Council needed this information to make better strategic decisions, such as the design of their council tax support scheme, and to make better operational decisions in order to target support more effectively.
Helping people out of poverty and tackling the impact of welfare reform is one of the top priorities of the Council.
Leeds City Council needed to develop its understanding of the impacts of the welfare reforms in Leeds and how it could respond to those impacts.
By way of context, the Council currently supports over 10,000 residents each year with information, advice and guidance and job brokerage services through its network of Jobshops.
In addition, there is targeted support to over 7,000 residents with low
skills levels each year to re-engage with learning, acquire new skills and qualifications that will support them into work.
The majority of these jobseekers and learners are in receipt of an out-of-work benefit.
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