Policy in Practice is a social policy software and analytics company working with councils, government, housing providers and community organisations. We are a team of policy experts who combine cutting-edge tech, insightful data and expert analysis. We help organisations analyse the impact of policy, identify and engage the people impacted, and track the effectiveness of interventions.
Our award winning Benefit and Budgeting calculator, linked to from GOV.UK, helps around 10,000 people every day find out what support they may be eligible for. Our data analytics services help organisations find relationships in datasets and visualise the drivers of poverty. We use our policy expertise to drive change via evidence, publications and media.
Previously we took data from different systems and manually tried to identify those that needed support. Or we just put a form to apply for support on our website. But we wanted to identify those people that were in crisis – to be proactive rather than reactive. LIFT allowed us to move away from the traditional approach and run highly targeted campaigns. Within a fortnight, we had identified 100 vulnerable households and supported 95 of them.
Pat Knight
Service Manager (Revenues and Benefits)
After a benefits check using the Better Off Calculator to ensure the client is getting everything they’re entitled to, we can then do a budget to see the breakdown of where their funds are going and how some costs can be lowered. The main thing we want to do with clients is put in place an affordable budget that prioritises the main things that they need to spend on and budgeting for that in the future, in turn avoiding credit.
Keith Thorne
Service Manager
There’s nothing more satisfying than knowing that we’ve identified an issue and can tell the story of what we’ve done to help. Recently, the LIFT platform identified that we have 5,187 households estimated to be in food poverty.
Margaret Gallagher
Head of Performance & Business Intelligence
The Better Off Calculator has changed the way we work completely across different teams. We have over 100 staff using it and there now tends to be only one conversation with our customers so it’s made it easier for them. It’s speeded up processes in a way that we didn’t really think would happen.
Nadine Burns
Customer Support Team Manager
The customer is going to be £7,000 a year better off. Without the Better Off Calculator I’m not sure that case would have ever made its way to our team because the customer wasn’t in arrears, she was paying and she never had any idea she could claim any benefits.
Nadine Burns
Customer Support Team Manager
We have used the Better Off Calculator for several years. We use it seamlessly across three large departments and it has helped improve our customers’ experience. Customers give us their information once making conversations easier, and it helps us to have all the information we need in order to give support. We have helped lots of customers claim benefits they did not know they are entitled to and have always found Policy in Practice’s support if we have any queries to be impeccable.
Nadine Burns
Customer Support Team Manager
The number of serious incidents involving children increased by 27 and the number of incidents involving adults increased by 15 in 2020. My vision is for MAST is to prevent that and give us the ammunition to say that the reductions and cost savings and service reductions that we’ve gone through over the last seven years have reduced our ability to act quickly and have early intervention. MAST gives us the weapon to say we actually need more early intervention before people become a safeguarding case.
Paul Withers, Walsall Council
We couldn’t have got to where we have without Policy in Practice’s modelling work. The advice and intelligence that we’ve had has been first rate. The commitment, the detail and the effort that has gone into the modelling has been absolutely second to none. People have gone the extra mile and beyond to accommodate us. It’s been a very positive experience.
David Graaff, Haringey Council
We use the calculator with Reach Out, our vulnerable customer’s arm. The tool is invaluable in the early identification of benefit eligibility and assists with cost savings to our vulnerable customers. It is simple to use and shows a level of detail like nothing else on the market.
Ben Jones, Sigma
Supporting customers to ensure they maximise their income is a vital part of our debt advice process. Close to 50% of customers who we’ve done a benefits assessment for are eligible for more benefits than they’ve been claiming. The tool is quick, intuitive to use and rich in detail – including excellent information on support at local authority level. Another plus is that, as well as alerting customers to additional benefits, it highlights other entitlements such as free prescriptions, free school meals, help with water costs, reduced price WiFi contracts and more.
Sebrina McCullough, Financial Wellness Group
