Policy in Practice blog

Title	Date	Start Time	Duration	Register
How to maximise unclaimed Pension Credit take up As the cost of living crisis continues and further increases in energy costs expected before winter, many pensioners are facing unprecedented financial challenges. Yet money is available that could lessen the financial strain. DWP estimates that up to one million pensioners, around a third of all those who are eligible, are missing out on unclaimed Pension Credit. This equates to £1.7 billion of benefits that could be worth around £3,300 for an individual pensioner household. Alongside DWP’s nationwide summer Pension Credit awareness campaign local authorities are running proactive, highly targeted Pension Credit awareness take up campaigns, and achieving great results. Minister for Pensions Guy Opperman said: “We’re going all out to promote Pension Credit, knowing how important this extra support, worth on average over £3,300 per year, could be for pensioners across the country. “It’s great to see the excellent work Local Authorities are doing to boost take-up in their areas. We’re also calling on everyone with retired family, friends and loved ones to check in with them and see if they could be eligible.” Join this webinar to learn: - Why a focus on tackling pensioner poverty is now needed - The value of unclaimed Pension Credit, and the number of households not claiming, by local authority area - Successful case studies from councils that are boosting pensioner incomes by £2,700 per household, on average	24/8/2022j/n/Y	10:30 BST2022-08-24T09:30:00ZH:i T	1.3 hours	Register
How to identify and support Just About Managing households using data The government wants to make life easier for the 'squeezed middle' or people who are just about managing. Despite most being in work, they are struggling to meet their cost of living. We know that one in five adults have less than £100 in savings, one in ten have no savings at all and more than a quarter have less than £500. Many families are one broken appliance away from slipping into debt. Local authorities want to help families who are struggling now to avoid a crisis down the line yet they have little or no visibility over people who are not already claiming benefits. Now though, analysis of other datasets can be used to get a clearer picture of families who are just about managing. Join this webinar to hear: - Who is just about managing now but at risk in the future due to the rising cost of living - Which datasets can be used to identify families in danger of debt - How local authorities can target support to avert crisis	21/9/2022j/n/Y	10:30 BST2022-09-21T09:30:00ZH:i T	1.3 hours	Register

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Date

Start Time

Duration

How to maximise unclaimed Pension Credit take up As the cost of living crisis continues and further increases in energy costs expected before winter, many pensioners are facing unprecedented financial challenges. Yet money is available that could lessen the financial strain.

DWP estimates that up to one million pensioners, around a third of all those who are eligible, are missing out on unclaimed Pension Credit. This equates to £1.7 billion of benefits that could be worth around £3,300 for an individual pensioner household.

Alongside DWP’s nationwide summer Pension Credit awareness campaign local authorities are running proactive, highly targeted Pension Credit awareness take up campaigns, and achieving great results.

Minister for Pensions Guy Opperman said:

“We’re going all out to promote Pension Credit, knowing how important this extra support, worth on average over £3,300 per year, could be for pensioners across the country.

“It’s great to see the excellent work Local Authorities are doing to boost take-up in their areas. We’re also calling on everyone with retired family, friends and loved ones to check in with them and see if they could be eligible.”

Join this webinar to learn:

- Why a focus on tackling pensioner poverty is now needed
- The value of unclaimed Pension Credit, and the number of households not claiming, by local authority area
- Successful case studies from councils that are boosting pensioner incomes by £2,700 per household, on average

24/8/2022

10:30 BST

1.3 hours

How to identify and support Just About Managing households using data The government wants to make life easier for the 'squeezed middle' or people who are just about managing. Despite most being in work, they are struggling to meet their cost of living.

We know that one in five adults have less than £100 in savings, one in ten have no savings at all and more than a quarter have less than £500. Many families are one broken appliance away from slipping into debt.

Local authorities want to help families who are struggling now to avoid a crisis down the line yet they have little or no visibility over people who are not already claiming benefits. Now though, analysis of other datasets can be used to get a clearer picture of families who are just about managing.

Join this webinar to hear:

- Who is just about managing now but at risk in the future due to the rising cost of living
- Which datasets can be used to identify families in danger of debt
- How local authorities can target support to avert crisis

21/9/2022

10:30 BST

1.3 hours

Policy in Practice’s recommended changes to Universal Credit published in Work and Pension Committee report

November 5, 2020

Fabiana Macor

Changes to Universal Credit suggested by Policy in Practice are included in the Work and Pensions Committee’s new report. We review it here.

How to predict the demand for your customer-facing services in April 2021

October 14, 2020

Alannah McGhee

COVID-19 has created residents who are newly financially vulnerable and who will be looking to you for help in the near future. Listen back hear Clive Jones talk about the actions Luton Council are taking to protect their residents.

Photo image of young person walking holding an umbrella and wearing yellow wellies to illustrate a blog about the access young people have to work

Three ways DWP can improve young people’s access to work

September 28, 2020

Louise Murphy

Latest data shows that young people’s access to work has been badly hit by Covid-19. We look at what the numbers show, and what can be done.

Image to illustrate blog post by Deven Ghelani who was interviewed by Shelagh Fogerty on LBC about the Winter Economy Plan following the Chancellor's announcement. Listen back and view his tweet thread.

New COVID-19 measures announced in the Winter Economy Plan

September 25, 2020

Deven Ghelani

Deven Ghelani was interviewed on LBC about the Winter Economy Plan following the Chancellor’s announcement. Listen back and view his tweet thread.

New figures reveal jobseeker’s claimant count more than doubles due to COVID-19

September 17, 2020

Zoe Charlesworth

The rise in the claimant count has been most dramatic in councils who had low unemployment levels before the pandemic. We look at what councils can do now.

Photo to illustrate a blog post from Policy in Practice about data analysis on financially vulnerable residents in London

New analysis: Who are the most financially vulnerable residents in London?

September 3, 2020

Duncan Hatfield

Read seven new findings about the most financially vulnerable residents in London as revealed by our latest modelling of data from 20 London Boroughs.

Photo of a waiter to illustrate a blog post by Policy in Practice about the changes in the world of work and how the benefit system needs to adapt

Evidence: long term changes in the world of work and its implications for DWP

August 18, 2020

Louise Murphy

Read our evidence for the Work and Pensions Committee on the changes in the world of work. Here we look at the new era and the role of the benefit system.

Image of family to illustrate blog post on legacy benefits run-on

Universal Credit: legacy benefits run-on starts today

July 22, 2020

Zoe Charlesworth

Today’s new legacy benefits run-on eases the transition to Universal Credit for some, but not all, households. Personal advice is essential.

Employment Response to Coronavirus by Mark Cosen author

Coronavirus job losses demand better employment support services

July 15, 2020

Mark Cosens

Guest author Mark Cosens discusses his new report, Employment Response to Coronavirus, and how employment support services must now evolve.

How do the surplus earnings rules work in practice?

July 2, 2020

Zoe Charlesworth

Self-employed people may be affected by complex surplus earnings rules which will affect the amount of Universal Credit they receive. In this blog post we look at the best advice frontline advisors can give.