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.
The Benefit and Budgeting 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 Benefit and Budgeting 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 Benefit and Budgeting 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
With LIFT we can see our caseload changing and the different types of households that are being impacted by the economic downturns. This lets us understand how we can reflect our support to match the impact that’s occurring as people move off housing benefit and predominantly onto Universal Credit as they become made redundant. We can be specific with our targeting of resources of help, which we wouldn’t be able to do without the LIFT Dashboard.
Clive Jones, Luton Borough Council
You can explain benefit entitlements but people may not fully grasp the numbers. Having the Benefit and Budgeting Calculator as a mechanism to visually explain the breakdown of entitlements using colour coded charts really helps as it’s something people can relate to.
Grant Bailey, Cheltenham Borough Homes
The Motor Neurone Disease Association is the only national charity in England, Wales and Northern Ireland focused on improving access to care, research and campaigning for people living with MND. We want to understand how the introduction of Universal Credit will affect people living with MND, their carers and their families, in order to inform the advocacy, advice and support we provide around this issue. Policy in Practice’s expertise and insight will help us to ensure we can continue to provide the best possible support to all those affected by MND who are impacted by the transition to Universal Credit.
Stephen is Director of Policy at the Legatum Institute and, since 2015, has been an Advisor to the Saudi Government. He has been a Director at Social Finance; and advised the DWP from 2010 to 2013. Prior to joining DWP, Stephen spent 15 years at Oliver Wyman, where he was a Partner. He is a board member of the Centre for Social Justice and also of Social Finance Digital Labs, and a member of the UK Social Metrics Commission. He is the author of Dynamic Benefits (the blueprint for Universal Credit) and Outcome-based Government.
Martin Leuw is a digital, social entrepreneur and active investor with hands on experience of early stage, corporate ventures and high growth businesses. He is the Chairman of Clearswift and Leathwaite and former Group CEO (2001-2011) of IRIS Software Group, where he drove growth from subscription revenues of £9m to over £120m per annum. A regular awards judge for programmes such as Big Venture Challenge, Martin is also a columnist for business magazines as well as The Times and Daily Telegraph. He won EY Entrepreneur of the Year in Communications & Technology, 2006, and is an Enterprise Fellow at the Prince’s Trust.
Mark started his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories focusing on systems and economic modelling. His over 25 year career in telecommunications spanned leadership roles in Sales, Business Development and Product Management covering the UK, EMEA, North America and AP/China. Mark’s focus continues to be on supporing and developng new business opportunities with compelling social value. He is an UnLtd. mentor and advisor at Citizen’s Advice.
Alexander Stevenson co-founded RSe Consulting, a public sector consultancy specialising in Local Government which was bought by Tribal Group. He is the author of ‘Public Sector: Managing the Unmanageable’. He is also a trustee of the Young Foundation and Chair of Create Streets.
Sean Williams started his career in the employment support sector, working as a frontline Unemployment Advisor in Brent, London. Since then, he has worked in research, policy, business development and operational management for some of the largest, most successful public service providers in the UK. He was Managing Director of G4S Employment Services until 2014, and left to support initiatives he was passionate about.
