Title	Date	Start Time	Duration	Register
Reducing barriers to work using data led campaigns In September 2023 the UK experienced an economic inactivity rate of 21.3% and an estimated unemployment rate of 4.3%, both of which have increased compared to previous data. Economic inactivity has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, prompting government efforts to integrate this group into the workforce. Historically, policies under Universal Credit and legacy benefits emphasised pushing people into employment through conditionality and short term measures. Today, both major political parties are exploring ways to facilitate return to work and eliminate barriers to employment. However, the government is also extending conditionality and adopting a tougher stance on sanctions for a broader range of people. Haringey is home to a young, ethnically diverse population. In June 2023, almost one fifth of those between 16 to 65 were on Universal Credit. Nearly 7% of residents over 16 were claiming unemployment related benefits, a figure above the London average of 4.7% and the 3rd highest rate of all UK councils Haringey Council wanted to find ways to overcome barriers to employment for young people and families with children and has used data to achieve success with its employment support programmes. Join this webinar to learn: - The new carrot and stick policy changes designed to break down barriers to work and reduce economic inactivity - What Haringey Council did to increase take up of free childcare for two year olds to 70% - How Haringey Council successfully helped 95 NEETs on their employment journey With guest speakers from Haringey Council	29/11/2023j/n/Y	10:30 GMT2023-11-29T10:30:00ZH:i T	1.3 hours	Register
Policy review of 2023 and what 2024 may hold Join our last webinar of 2023 to hear our policy analysts review 2023's policy changes and big issues, from the ongoing cost of living and energy crises to the funding of local government and the Autumn Statement. We will highlight our policy findings from the year including our work that revealed that millions of households across the UK are missing out on £19 billion of support each year. We'll look at the role that data is playing in helping leading organisations to tackle these issues. Through case studies of different types of households we'll look at what the changes mean for families now, and what 2024 has in store. Along the way we'll share the positive impact that organisations we work with are having, and give practical solutions that others can adopt.	6/12/2023j/n/Y	10:30 GMT2023-12-06T10:30:00ZH:i T	1.3 hours	Register
How the debt sector is connecting people to support	31/1/2024j/n/Y	10:30 GMT2024-01-31T10:30:00ZH:i T	1.3 hours	Register

Data-led benefit take-up campaigns boost vulnerable people’s income in Folkestone and Hythe

Client

Folkestone and Hythe District Council

Sector

Local authority

Products used

LIFT platform

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As one of the more deprived areas within Kent, Folkestone and Hythe Council prioritises serving the most vulnerable residents first with the best care, yet they were struggling to reach these residents before crisis hit. Administrative workloads were hindering processes and were to blame for the delay.

The council has around 52,000 households paying council tax, 8,000 of whom are in receipt of housing benefit. With access to rich data sources the Revenues and Benefits team, lead by Jane Worrell, decided to purchase Policy in Practice’s LIFT platform to analyse their administrative data effectively. The insights that LIFT has unlocked allow the council to identify the most vulnerable households, target support to them and track change over time.

After seeing a demo of LIFT at the IRRV conference in 2017, Jane was amazed “at the way it took a very large number [of households] and broke it down so that we could do it [target support] in manageable chunks”. Reaching those in crisis has always been a high priority and LIFT has proved invaluable in identifying those most at risk.

We really are a district of contrasts. Due to our proximity with London and the continent we have multi-millionaires but we also have pockets of deprivation in our urban areas. We have a relatively high pension age which means we have long-term care needs to budget for. We have landlords in control of bedsit accommodation which is transient and low income, and a number of our residents don’t have English as a first language.

First data-led campaign yields a 44% uptake in Pension Credit, worth £676,000, after ten days

Jane’s team quickly began using LIFT to support their mixed-age pensioner campaign, with great success. Under a tight deadline, the team got to work straight away with LIFT and identified a group of 98 potential claimants. They made phone calls to encourage the couples to apply for pension credit, which would also make them eligible for a free TV license.

After just 10 days 51 new people were claiming Pension Credit, an uptake of 44%. As Jane says:

There are 51 households claiming Pension Credits which, for a couple, is worth £255 per week. This means £676,000 annually has been brought into our district which I think is an awesome result for what was, in realistic terms, a few afternoons by three benefit staff.

The new data-led way of identifying vulnerability was established, filling the team with the confidence to push forward with other benefit take-up campaigns focused on groups such as children under five, self-employed people and those eligible for the Severe Disability Premium.

Data analysis provides unexpected added value

The team also found added value from their data analysis in other areas. Using LIFT they detected fraud cases that were not on their radar, which Jane says would never have been discovered without LIFT. She noted that it gave the previous file management more structure and allowed them to use their resources in a more effective way.

The feedback from residents on the benefit take-up campaigns has been phenomenal and has helped them gain trust within the council.

A county-wide approach to using LIFT will enable greater protection to residents

As a district council Folkestone and Hythe don’t have the same datasets available as a county. As the team looks to post COVID-19 recovery they are excited about the county-wide approach being taken in Kent that sees other districts and the county council using LIFT to get actionable insights.

Folkestone and Hythe are particularly concerned about protecting first-time claimants who have no knowledge of the benefits system, as well as the potential crisis as the furlough scheme comes to an end and predicted levels of unemployment rise across their district and county.

Data analysis and COVID-19 recovery

No one could have predicted the COVID-19 pandemic, nor how it would affect the financial resilience of residents across the country. In March 2020 alone, Folkestone and Hythe saw an increase of 525 cases which has now risen to 2,000. Thankfully the team had redesigned their Council Tax Support Scheme in 2019 which put them in a better position to support people who were new to the benefit system and Universal Credit.

The CTRS changes the council had introduced meant that Universal Credit claimants were automatically granted Council Tax Reduction, which meant that they were added to LIFT’s datasets immediately. LIFT gave the council visibility of newly vulnerable people which meant they could target support to them early.

More recently, Folkestone and Hythe identified people who were receiving Universal Credit but not Council Tax Reduction. Starting with the most vulnerable people, this group has now been successfully awarded support of over £1.1 million to help with payments towards council tax.

Folkestone and Hythe’s holistic approach to tackling financial hardship saw them nominated for four awards at IRRV awards 2021, winning in the training and staff development category.

Using LIFT, we have already identified 299 cases in fuel, water and food poverty and in crisis, at risk or struggling. We are able to tailor support depending on each individual circumstances and people are pleasantly surprised that we are calling to help.

Jane Worrell, Revenues and Benefits Specialist, Folkestone and Hythe

LIFT helps prepare for an uncertain future

One of the most important decisions Folkestone and Hythe made with LIFT platform was to allocate dedicated resources to get the most out of the tool. Within Jane’s small team one person works full-time on identifying the households who are most in need, downloading the actionable lists produced by the platform which fuel the poverty prevention campaigns.

Whilst 2020 has been a challenge, Folkestone and Hythe District Council knows that really hard work is ahead. Furlough will end, unemployment may go up and wage freezes begin to take effect. LIFT gives the team the best tool to analyse their data sets now in order to plan and prepare for the months ahead.