Greater London Authority’s partnership with Policy in Practice unlocks £52 million for households

Today, the Greater London Authority (GLA) announced a significant milestone: £108 million in financial support delivered to 170,000 London households. Policy in Practice delivered £52 million of this total, nearly half of the headline figure, reaching 55,000 households across the capital.

Delivering support has never been more vital. Across London, hundreds of thousands of households continue to feel the pressure of high living costs. City Hall polling shows that nearly half of Londoners are under financial strain, with 17% struggling and a further 31% just about managing.

At the same time, Policy in Practice analysis estimates that Londoners miss out on around £4 billion in unclaimed benefits every year.

Closing this gap is the focus of our partnership with the Greater London Authority. We help London boroughs identify households who are missing out and connect them with the financial support they are eligible for.

This collective outcome also reflects vital frontline work across wider London programmes. These include the Advising Londoners Partnership with London Citizens Advice and the London Legal Support Trust, the Family Financial Resilience Partnership, and the Advice in Community Settings programme. Together, these initiatives show that combining data-led targeting with frontline advice can strengthen financial resilience for households at scale.

Since 2022, our partnership with the GLA has focused on delivering proactive, targeted interventions. We work with council teams to identify residents who are likely eligible for support they are not currently receiving.

Using our Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) platform, council teams gain a clear, up-to-date view of household finances across their area. Across London, over 75,000 residents have been identified as missing out, resulting in 12,000 successful claims this year. 

Our collaborative campaigns target multiple benefit schemes to ensure support reaches those who need it most:

• Pension Credit: Campaigns across 27 boroughs have helped over 9,000 low-income households claim more than £40.8 million in vital income.
• Attendance Allowance: Campaigns across 19 boroughs have supported more than 1,300 older residents with disabilities or health conditions to secure over £6.1 million in additional support.
• Healthy Start: Across 16 boroughs, more than 1,700 pregnant women and young families have accessed over £200,000 to buy healthy food, milk, and vitamins at a critical stage of child development.

When local authorities use data to deliver early, targeted support, the impact reaches well beyond individual household budgets. Putting money directly into residents’ pockets:

• Relieves strain on local emergency and discretionary funds
• Protects health and housing stability, reducing demand on council services
• Brings vital income into local economies and high streets

Every pound of unclaimed support that reaches an eligible household is a pound that helps prevent a crisis, rather than simply respond to it.

View the full breakdown of support delivered across each participating council here.