Kensington and Chelsea: Impact of COVID-19 benefit changes, hardship fund and the benefit cap

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COVID-19 analysis for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Policy in Practice recently completed reports for the Greater London Authority on The impact of the COVID-19 Hardship Fund on low-income Londoners and The interaction of COVID-19 measures and the Benefit Cap on low-income Londoners. Findings from the latter report were covered in The Observer.

Here are extracts of this analysis that relate specifically to your council.

Join our online roundtable event on Tuesday 30 June to hear results from our latest analysis on how welfare support policies are impacting low-income Londoners. Click here for details.

Research findings at a glance

There are 13.4k households in receipt of CTS in Kensington and Chelsea. Their hardship fund allocation of £1.7m covers the 8.4k working age households in the borough
The liability covered rises from 84.8% to 89.6%, with the working-age CT bill reduced by an average of £0.88/week
Following government guidance on the hardship fund uses up 21.1% of Kensington and Chelsea’s total allocation
This leaves £1.3m for the borough to use a discretionary pot, funding that could potentially be better targeted using LIFT
Taking into account the expected increase in caseload, however, we predict you will have -£883,452 remaining

£1.3m

Potential funds left over

We expect 198 additional households (89 additional children) to become affected by the benefit cap as a result of the new COVID-19 measures. This represents an increase of 78.6% in the number of capped households
There are some inconsistencies on how our engine calculates who is capped, and who is shown as capped in the raw SHBE data – this is due to e.g. the grace period, DWP notification timings, UC etc; as a result, the numbers identified as capped don’t exactly match what you see in LIFT
Private renters are most heavily impacted. Capped private renters gain £178 on average, compared to £522 for private tenants that are not affected by the benefit cap
OBR projections suggest 4k households in Kensington and Chelsea will be unemployed in 2021. If furloughed workers didn’t return to work this could mean anywhere from 540 to 1,362 out of work households being affected by the benefit cap in 2021 (if the COVID-19 response measures are kept in place).

Proactively identify individual vulnerable households
Target support where it’s most need
Track the effectiveness of your interventions over time

Listen back to how Tower Hamlets use it to tackle poverty here.

Email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242.

Use LIFT to target your discretionary support well

COVID-19 Hardship Fund

From the data available at the time of modelling, Kensington and Chelsea had a maximum CTS reduction level of 100.0% (100.0% for vulnerable groups). The borough had a CTS cohort of 13.4k, including 8.4k working age households. The total COVID-19 Hardship Fund allocation was £1.7m
Prior to the application of the hardship fund, Kensington and Chelsea had an average CT liability of £19.43/week, with the borough’s scheme covering an average of 84.8% of household liability

37.2% of Kensington and Chelsea’s working-age CTS cohort had some level of residual liability after the borough’s support scheme is applied, and so are set to see their liability reduced due to the COVID-19 hardship fund
Applying the government’s guidance on the application of the fund, working age households in Kensington and Chelsea see their CT bill reduced by an average of £0.88/week
After application of the fund, working age households in Kensington and Chelsea are left with an average residual liability of £2.20/week. With the fund applied in this way, the borough’s CTS scheme covers an average of 89.6% of household liability for working age households

Applying the Hardship Fund to households’ CT bills in accordance with government guidance uses up 21.1% of Kensington and Chelsea’s total allocation
This leaves £1.3m remaining for the borough to use as a discretionary support fund

This analysis is based on data from August 2019. Benefit cap status is identified by our engine, rather than the raw cap data included in SHBE. This is because raw SHBE cap data may not be based on accurate rent information. To account for this, we have adjusted private tenants rent amounts to the median rent based on Valuation Office Agency data for 2018/19

The table below shows the allocation of Hardship Funds to local authorities and the amount of funds each individual authority will be able to retain for their own discretionary allocation.

Local Authority		Based on pre COVID-19 caseload			Based on post COVID-19 caseload
	HF Allocation	HF initial cost	Amount remaining	Proportion remaining	Amount remaining after OBR prediction of increased unemployment in 2020/21	Proportion remaining
Adur	£453,179	£99,914	£353,265	78%	£261,344	58%
Allerdale	£910,462	£201,211	£709,251	78%	£524,137	58%
Amber Valley	£1,033,585	£639,892	£393,693	38%	-£195,007	0%
Arun	£945,239	£226,496	£718,743	76%	£510,366	54%
Ashfield	£1,383,514	£359,583	£1,023,931	74%	£693,114	50%
Ashford	£968,568	£666,062	£302,506	31%	-£310,271	0%
Babergh	£467,436	£210,368	£257,068	55%	£63,529	14%
Barking and Dagenham	£2,214,270	£1,537,650	£676,620	31%	-£738,018	0%
Barnet	£4,132,829	£2,869,950	£1,262,879	31%	-£1,377,475	0%
Barnsley	£2,646,497	£1,837,800	£808,697	31%	-£882,079	0%
Barrow-in-Furness	£798,140	£206,699	£591,441	74%	£401,277	50%
Basildon	£1,648,768	£357,745	£1,291,023	78%	£961,897	58%
Basingstoke and Deane	£1,019,761	£270,592	£749,169	73%	£500,225	49%
Bassetlaw	£906,790	£559,703	£347,087	38%	-£167,839	0%
Bath and North East Somerset UA	£1,288,040	£658,130	£629,910	49%	£24,431	2%
Bedford UA	£1,438,595	£341,910	£1,096,685	76%	£782,128	54%
Bexley	£1,850,733	£1,285,200	£565,533	31%	-£616,851	0%
Birmingham	£17,382,811	£9,437,607	£7,945,204	46%	-£737,394	0%
Blaby	£415,378	£230,167	£185,211	45%	-£26,543	0%
Blackburn with Darwen UA	£2,194,182	£1,523,700	£670,482	31%	-£731,322	0%
Blackpool UA	£2,803,101	£1,946,550	£856,551	31%	-£934,275	0%
Bolsover	£779,779	£498,959	£280,820	36%	-£178,223	0%
Bolton	£3,454,789	£2,399,100	£1,055,689	31%	-£1,151,483	0%
Boston	£538,069	£373,650	£164,419	31%	-£179,339	0%
Bournemouth UA	£3,103,348	£1,631,464	£1,471,884	47%	-£29,063	0%
Bracknell Forest UA	£609,567	£151,457	£458,110	75%	£318,769	52%
Bradford	£5,852,232	£4,063,950	£1,788,282	31%	-£1,950,552	0%
Braintree	£891,670	£619,200	£272,470	31%	-£297,194	0%
Breckland	£919,967	£562,110	£357,857	39%	-£159,284	0%
Brent	£3,948,577	£1,013,665	£2,934,912	57%	£2,002,341	51%
Brentwood	£345,609	£93,930	£251,679	73%	£165,263	48%
Brighton and Hove UA	£2,329,833	£1,617,900	£711,933	31%	-£776,535	0%
Bristol, City of UA	£5,005,923	£1,161,333	£3,844,590	77%	£2,776,163	55%
Broadland	£637,216	£442,500	£194,716	31%	-£212,384	0%
Bromley	£1,841,229	£1,278,600	£562,629	31%	-£613,683	0%
Bromsgrove	£460,955	£320,100	£140,855	31%	-£153,637	0%
Broxbourne	£735,930	£511,050	£224,880	31%	-£245,286	0%
Broxtowe	£816,716	£216,034	£600,682	74%	£401,930	49%
Buckinghamshire	£2,813,901	£1,463,798	£1,350,103	48%	£3,409	0%
Burnley	£1,475,316	£802,290	£673,026	46%	-£65,080	0%
Bury	£1,888,102	£1,311,150	£576,952	31%	-£629,306	0%
Calderdale	£2,169,989	£1,506,900	£663,089	31%	-£723,259	0%
Cambridge	£920,831	£177,904	£742,927	81%	£579,254	63%
Camden	£3,119,765	£2,371,021	£748,744	76%	-£1,432,596	0%
Canterbury	£710,225	£150,999	£559,226	79%	£420,307	59%
Carlisle	£1,082,619	£269,415	£813,204	75%	£565,342	52%
Castle Point	£989,736	£687,300	£302,436	31%	-£329,880	0%
Central Bedfordshire UA	£439,787	£305,400	£134,387	31%	-£146,581	0%
Charnwood	£1,606,215	£1,115,400	£490,815	31%	-£535,353	0%
Chelmsford	£978,936	£679,800	£299,136	31%	-£326,280	0%
Cheltenham	£866,829	£214,943	£651,886	75%	£454,139	52%
Cherwell	£851,709	£248,350	£603,359	71%	£374,876	44%
Cheshire East UA	£818,012	£568,050	£249,962	31%	-£272,644	0%
Cheshire West and Chester UA	£2,062,635	£1,432,350	£630,285	31%	-£687,477	0%
Chesterfield	£2,423,580	£1,472,550	£951,030	39%	-£403,715	0%
Chichester	£1,191,269	£268,539	£922,730	77%	£675,674	57%
Chiltern	£699,209	£485,550	£213,659	31%	-£233,047	0%
Chorley	£855,381	£213,816	£641,565	75%	£444,854	52%
City of London	£33,265	£8,462	£24,803	75%	£17,018	51%
Colchester	£1,151,524	£799,650	£351,874	31%	-£383,804	0%
Copeland	£769,411	£182,876	£586,535	76%	£418,289	54%
Corby	£534,829	£331,525	£203,304	38%	-£101,699	0%
Cornwall UA	£4,756,869	£3,303,300	£1,453,569	31%	-£1,585,467	0%
Cotswold	£389,458	£234,848	£154,610	40%	-£61,450	0%
Coventry	£3,731,924	£2,591,550	£1,140,374	31%	-£1,243,852	0%
Craven	£267,199	£180,044	£87,155	33%	-£78,486	0%
Crawley	£988,656	£259,160	£729,496	74%	£491,069	50%
Croydon	£4,387,932	£2,676,639	£1,711,293	61%	-£751,214	0%
Dacorum	£1,062,098	£561,806	£500,292	47%	-£16,570	0%
Darlington UA	£1,305,968	£906,900	£399,068	31%	-£435,280	0%
Dartford	£897,286	£291,195	£606,091	68%	£338,192	38%
Daventry	£394,210	£273,750	£120,460	31%	-£131,390	0%
Derby UA	£2,187,702	£1,519,200	£668,502	31%	-£729,162	0%
Derbyshire Dales	£338,264	£216,105	£122,159	36%	-£76,657	0%
Doncaster	£2,992,753	£826,642	£2,166,111	72%	£1,405,601	47%
Dorset	£2,647,793	£1,484,854	£1,162,939	44%	-£203,126	0%
Dover	£1,053,674	£466,889	£586,785	56%	£157,247	15%
Dudley	£2,989,729	£1,639,420	£1,350,309	45%	-£157,958	0%
Durham UA	£6,964,443	£2,045,112	£4,919,331	71%	£3,037,828	44%
Ealing	£3,061,443	£1,806,251	£1,255,192	59%	-£406,560	0%
East Cambridgeshire	£429,851	£266,531	£163,320	38%	-£81,888	0%
East Devon	£713,034	£305,536	£407,498	57%	£126,406	18%
East Hampshire	£516,901	£130,984	£385,917	75%	£265,412	51%
East Hertfordshire	£665,944	£406,294	£259,650	39%	-£114,140	0%
East Lindsey	£1,378,546	£957,300	£421,246	31%	-£459,470	0%
East Northamptonshire	£439,787	£305,400	£134,387	31%	-£146,581	0%
East Riding of Yorkshire UA	£1,942,320	£1,348,800	£593,520	31%	-£647,376	0%
East Staffordshire	£812,828	£564,450	£248,378	31%	-£270,916	0%
East Suffolk	£1,916,615	£1,168,957	£747,658	39%	-£327,783	0%
Eastbourne	£918,455	£637,800	£280,655	31%	-£306,121	0%
Eastleigh	£543,469	£129,051	£414,418	76%	£295,690	54%
Eden	£307,160	£90,643	£216,517	70%	£133,124	43%
Elmbridge	£667,672	£409,923	£257,749	39%	-£119,380	0%
Enfield	£5,896,729	£3,007,332	£2,889,397	51%	£122,652	2%
Epping Forest	£658,168	£457,050	£201,118	31%	-£219,368	0%
Epsom and Ewell	£344,096	£238,950	£105,146	31%	-£114,688	0%
Erewash	£949,343	£587,286	£362,057	38%	-£178,247	0%
Exeter	£934,439	£648,900	£285,539	31%	-£311,449	0%
Fareham	£423,370	£226,930	£196,440	46%	-£12,335	0%
Fenland	£907,222	£630,000	£277,222	31%	-£302,378	0%
Forest Heath	£1,132,732	£476,088	£656,644	58%	£218,644	19%
Forest of Dean	£638,728	£191,793	£446,935	70%	£270,485	42%
Fylde	£586,022	£328,824	£257,198	44%	-£45,320	0%
Gateshead	£2,672,418	£1,752,294	£920,124	34%	-£691,987	0%
Gedling	£873,093	£257,295	£615,798	71%	£379,087	43%
Gloucester	£1,145,476	£280,390	£865,086	76%	£607,127	53%
Gosport	£565,286	£392,550	£172,736	31%	-£188,410	0%
Gravesham	£893,182	£482,914	£410,268	46%	-£34,013	0%
Great Yarmouth	£1,305,536	£803,668	£501,868	38%	-£237,507	0%
Greenwich	£3,188,238	£719,058	£2,469,180	77%	£1,807,646	57%
Guildford	£469,380	£136,261	£333,119	71%	£207,759	44%
Hackney	£4,612,361	£3,202,950	£1,409,411	31%	-£1,537,303	0%
Halton UA	£1,618,528	£1,123,950	£494,578	31%	-£539,456	0%
Hambleton	£383,193	£238,819	£144,374	38%	-£75,339	0%
Hammersmith and Fulham	£1,947,072	£535,894	£1,411,178	72%	£918,155	47%
Harborough	£298,519	£207,300	£91,219	31%	-£99,497	0%
Haringey	£3,663,666	£2,564,566	£1,099,100	70%	-£1,260,301	0%
Harlow	£933,791	£648,450	£285,341	31%	-£311,233	0%
Harrogate	£863,157	£242,184	£620,973	72%	£398,164	46%
Harrow	£1,391,506	£966,300	£425,206	31%	-£463,790	0%
Hart	£318,608	£101,381	£217,227	68%	£123,957	39%
Hartlepool UA	£1,864,342	£1,294,650	£569,692	31%	-£621,386	0%
Hastings	£1,281,991	£426,843	£855,148	67%	£462,453	36%
Havant	£1,099,899	£526,949	£572,950	52%	£88,158	8%
Havering	£1,807,532	£1,255,200	£552,332	31%	-£602,452	0%
Herefordshire, County of UA	£1,076,354	£747,450	£328,904	31%	-£358,750	0%
Hertsmere	£735,930	£202,886	£533,044	72%	£346,389	47%
High Peak	£716,058	£215,475	£500,583	70%	£302,345	42%
Hillingdon	£2,124,412	£709,360	£1,415,052	67%	£762,440	36%
Hinckley and Bosworth	£531,157	£368,850	£162,307	31%	-£177,035	0%
Horsham	£602,007	£327,769	£274,238	46%	-£27,309	0%
Hounslow	£2,610,856	£796,747	£1,814,109	69%	£1,081,101	41%
Huntingdonshire	£827,084	£461,798	£365,286	44%	-£59,569	0%
Hyndburn	£942,431	£519,734	£422,697	45%	-£55,459	0%
Ipswich	£1,508,581	£733,381	£775,200	51%	£100,490	7%
Isle of Wight UA	£1,135,756	£643,905	£491,851	43%	-£100,541	0%
Islington	£3,879,455	£1,551,782	£2,327,673	40%	£900,034	23%
Kensington and Chelsea	£1,709,466	£1,350,478	£358,988	79%	-£883,452	0%
Kettering	£584,294	£405,750	£178,544	31%	-£194,746	0%
Kings Lynn and West Norfolk	£1,035,961	£582,429	£453,532	44%	-£82,302	0%
Kingston upon Hull, City of UA	£4,251,200	£2,952,150	£1,299,050	31%	-£1,416,928	0%
Kingston upon Thames	£1,132,084	£344,991	£787,093	70%	£469,702	41%
Kirklees	£4,956,890	£2,776,960	£2,179,930	44%	-£374,873	0%
Knowsley	£2,455,764	£1,705,350	£750,414	31%	-£818,508	0%
Lambeth	£3,095,140	£1,949,938	£1,145,202	63%	-£648,741	0%
Lancaster	£1,424,987	£435,643	£989,344	69%	£588,552	41%
Leeds	£8,921,883	£4,924,724	£3,997,159	45%	-£533,588	0%
Leicester UA	£3,738,404	£2,596,050	£1,142,354	31%	-£1,246,012	0%
Lewes	£816,500	£567,000	£249,500	31%	-£272,140	0%
Lewisham	£3,241,160	£2,250,750	£990,410	31%	-£1,080,280	0%
Lichfield	£562,910	£390,900	£172,010	31%	-£187,618	0%
Lincoln	£1,209,846	£377,759	£832,087	69%	£484,548	40%
Liverpool	£9,142,208	£4,781,944	£4,360,264	48%	-£39,124	0%
Luton UA	£2,100,868	£940,124	£1,160,744	55%	£295,831	14%
Maidstone	£1,177,877	£817,950	£359,927	31%	-£392,587	0%
Maldon	£337,832	£234,600	£103,232	31%	-£112,600	0%
Malvern Hills	£409,330	£128,177	£281,153	69%	£163,229	40%
Manchester	£7,458,231	£5,179,200	£2,279,031	31%	-£2,485,833	0%
Mansfield	£1,220,430	£847,500	£372,930	31%	-£406,770	0%
Medway UA	£2,056,371	£1,428,000	£628,371	31%	-£685,389	0%
Melton	£258,126	£179,250	£78,876	31%	-£86,034	0%
Mendip	£742,410	£515,550	£226,860	31%	-£247,446	0%
Merton	£1,483,740	£541,587	£942,153	64%	£443,894	30%
Mid Devon	£474,564	£132,274	£342,290	72%	£220,599	46%
Mid Suffolk	£435,683	£206,614	£229,069	53%	£38,985	9%
Mid Sussex	£695,753	£216,043	£479,710	69%	£280,950	40%
Middlesbrough UA	£2,832,262	£1,966,800	£865,462	31%	-£943,994	0%
Milton Keynes UA	£2,322,057	£1,612,500	£709,557	31%	-£773,943	0%
Mole Valley	£419,914	£142,693	£277,221	66%	£145,944	35%
New Forest	£886,486	£505,208	£381,278	43%	-£83,514	0%
Newark and Sherwood	£810,884	£563,100	£247,784	31%	-£270,268	0%
Newcastle upon Tyne	£1,035,529	£397,736	£637,793	62%	£271,875	26%
Newcastle-under-Lyme	£6,157,231	£4,275,750	£1,881,481	31%	-£2,052,209	0%
Newham	£4,268,049	£2,963,850	£1,304,199	31%	-£1,422,543	0%
North Devon	£692,081	£200,958	£491,123	71%	£306,242	44%
North East Derbyshire	£776,323	£499,536	£276,787	36%	-£182,787	0%
North East Lincolnshire UA	£1,655,033	£951,410	£703,623	43%	-£171,675	0%
North Hertfordshire	£910,246	£519,513	£390,733	43%	-£87,218	0%
North Kesteven	£514,957	£289,311	£225,646	44%	-£40,520	0%
North Lincolnshire UA	£1,170,101	£812,550	£357,551	31%	-£389,995	0%
North Norfolk	£723,834	£458,228	£265,606	37%	-£155,963	0%
North Somerset UA	£1,492,597	£1,036,500	£456,097	31%	-£497,483	0%
North Tyneside	£2,023,970	£1,405,500	£618,470	31%	-£674,590	0%
North Warwickshire	£453,395	£296,665	£156,730	35%	-£116,203	0%
North West Leicestershire	£545,197	£378,600	£166,597	31%	-£181,715	0%
Northampton	£1,861,318	£1,292,550	£568,768	31%	-£620,378	0%
Northumberland UA	£3,381,563	£1,686,594	£1,694,969	50%	£143,303	4%
Norwich	£2,036,930	£677,278	£1,359,652	67%	£736,555	36%
Nottingham UA	£4,022,883	£2,793,600	£1,229,283	31%	-£1,340,829	0%
Nuneaton and Bedworth	£1,156,924	£647,309	£509,615	44%	-£85,910	0%
Oadby and Wigston	£274,327	£190,500	£83,827	31%	-£91,433	0%
Oldham	£3,015,434	£1,651,156	£1,364,278	45%	-£154,786	0%
Oxford	£1,156,492	£413,307	£743,185	64%	£362,943	31%
Pendle	£1,029,697	£593,894	£435,803	42%	-£110,579	0%
Peterborough UA	£1,668,857	£938,598	£730,259	44%	-£133,250	0%
Plymouth UA	£2,574,999	£908,141	£1,666,858	65%	£831,368	32%
Portsmouth UA	£1,866,502	£1,296,150	£570,352	31%	-£622,106	0%
Preston	£1,795,436	£969,780	£825,656	46%	-£66,541	0%
Reading UA	£952,799	£661,650	£291,149	31%	-£317,569	0%
Redbridge	£2,023,106	£1,031,784	£991,322	51%	£42,081	2%
Redcar and Cleveland UA	£1,847,925	£1,283,250	£564,675	31%	-£615,915	0%
Redditch	£671,777	£466,500	£205,277	31%	-£223,903	0%
Reigate and Banstead	£754,507	£523,950	£230,557	31%	-£251,477	0%
Ribble Valley	£222,053	£123,825	£98,228	44%	-£15,691	0%
Richmond upon Thames	£1,118,691	£607,836	£510,855	46%	-£48,354	0%
Richmondshire (see note 4)	£245,598	£139,596	£106,002	43%	-£22,426	0%
Rochdale	£3,064,251	£1,741,124	£1,323,127	43%	-£278,706	0%
Rochford	£336,968	£234,000	£102,968	31%	-£112,312	0%
Rossendale	£734,634	£403,120	£331,514	45%	-£39,357	0%
Rother	£650,824	£296,392	£354,432	54%	£81,750	13%
Rotherham	£2,864,446	£1,794,947	£1,069,499	37%	-£581,852	0%
Rugby	£651,904	£452,700	£199,204	31%	-£217,280	0%
Runnymede	£337,832	£234,600	£103,232	31%	-£112,600	0%
Rushcliffe	£515,389	£339,671	£175,718	34%	-£136,780	0%
Rushmoor	£541,525	£376,050	£165,475	31%	-£180,491	0%
Rutland UA	£121,611	£84,450	£37,161	31%	-£40,533	0%
Ryedale	£333,512	£211,968	£121,544	36%	-£73,466	0%
Salford	£3,581,800	£2,487,300	£1,094,500	31%	-£1,193,816	0%
Sandwell	£4,546,912	£1,482,767	£3,064,145	67%	£1,699,999	37%
Scarborough	£1,243,543	£863,550	£379,993	31%	-£414,473	0%
Sedgemoor	£849,765	£590,100	£259,665	31%	-£283,227	0%
Sefton	£3,036,603	£2,108,700	£927,903	31%	-£1,012,101	0%
Selby	£523,813	£363,750	£160,063	31%	-£174,587	0%
Sevenoaks	£697,265	£338,408	£358,857	51%	£47,522	7%
Sheffield	£6,058,517	£4,207,200	£1,851,317	31%	-£2,019,307	0%
Shropshire UA	£1,540,118	£880,007	£660,111	43%	-£149,495	0%
Slough UA	£1,332,321	£637,700	£694,621	52%	£107,938	8%
Solihull	£1,571,871	£1,091,550	£480,321	31%	-£523,905	0%
Somerset West and Taunton	£1,382,002	£385,246	£996,756	72%	£642,329	46%
South Cambridgeshire	£661,192	£245,470	£415,722	63%	£189,890	29%
South Derbyshire	£606,111	£336,787	£269,324	44%	-£40,520	0%
South Gloucestershire UA	£1,115,883	£774,900	£340,983	31%	-£371,925	0%
South Hams	£507,828	£165,550	£342,278	67%	£189,972	37%
South Holland	£461,387	£262,627	£198,760	43%	-£42,857	0%
South Kesteven	£924,719	£642,150	£282,569	31%	-£308,209	0%
South Lakeland	£487,092	£167,282	£319,810	66%	£165,910	34%
South Norfolk	£756,235	£414,252	£341,983	45%	-£39,130	0%
South Northamptonshire	£283,831	£178,652	£105,179	37%	-£59,181	0%
South Oxfordshire	£577,166	£163,177	£413,989	72%	£263,866	46%
South Ribble	£707,201	£179,091	£528,110	75%	£363,346	51%
South Somerset	£1,155,628	£802,500	£353,128	31%	-£385,172	0%
South Staffordshire	£514,957	£279,378	£235,579	46%	-£21,450	0%
South Tyneside	£2,497,669	£1,734,450	£763,219	31%	-£832,475	0%
Southampton UA	£2,584,071	£1,794,450	£789,621	31%	-£861,273	0%
Southend-on-Sea UA	£1,661,945	£1,154,100	£507,845	31%	-£553,927	0%
Southwark	£3,476,389	£1,251,500	£2,224,889	36%	£1,073,509	31%
Spelthorne	£588,614	£408,750	£179,864	31%	-£196,186	0%
St Albans	£779,347	£245,955	£533,392	68%	£307,114	39%
St. Helens	£1,905,815	£1,323,450	£582,365	31%	-£635,209	0%
Stafford	£651,040	£187,083	£463,957	71%	£291,841	45%
Staffordshire Moorlands	£516,901	£315,759	£201,142	39%	-£89,356	0%
Stevenage	£779,347	£484,800	£294,547	38%	-£151,469	0%
Stockport	£2,462,460	£668,256	£1,794,204	73%	£1,179,408	48%
Stockton-on-Tees UA	£2,440,212	£1,694,550	£745,662	31%	-£813,324	0%
Stoke-on-Trent UA	£3,157,350	£1,752,468	£1,404,882	45%	-£207,389	0%
Stratford-on-Avon	£660,760	£458,850	£201,910	31%	-£220,232	0%
Stroud	£628,575	£195,710	£432,865	69%	£252,813	40%
Sunderland	£4,195,687	£2,083,151	£2,112,536	50%	£196,037	5%
Surrey Heath	£293,551	£203,850	£89,701	31%	-£97,841	0%
Sutton	£1,646,824	£839,880	£806,944	51%	£34,254	2%
Swale	£1,173,341	£814,800	£358,541	31%	-£391,075	0%
Swindon UA	£1,305,752	£704,995	£600,757	46%	-£47,838	0%
Tameside	£2,158,109	£1,498,650	£659,459	31%	-£719,299	0%
Tamworth	£565,718	£392,850	£172,868	31%	-£188,554	0%
Tandridge	£466,571	£132,163	£334,408	72%	£212,818	46%
Teignbridge	£940,055	£295,781	£644,274	69%	£372,156	40%
Telford and Wrekin UA	£1,820,061	£785,276	£1,034,785	57%	£312,331	17%
Tendring	£1,374,442	£954,450	£419,992	31%	-£458,102	0%
Test Valley	£573,710	£283,705	£290,005	51%	£28,995	5%
Tewkesbury	£532,237	£118,397	£413,840	78%	£304,916	57%
Thanet	£1,644,880	£856,716	£788,164	48%	-£15	0%
Three Rivers	£497,676	£128,385	£369,291	74%	£251,176	50%
Thurrock UA	£1,283,936	£891,600	£392,336	31%	-£427,936	0%
Tonbridge and Malling	£866,829	£461,274	£405,555	47%	-£18,816	0%
Torbay UA	£1,610,536	£1,118,400	£492,136	31%	-£536,792	0%
Torridge	£419,266	£291,150	£128,116	31%	-£139,742	0%
Tower Hamlets	£4,382,100	£3,286,575	£1,095,525	75%	-£1,928,124	0%
Trafford	£1,561,070	£304,564	£1,256,506	80%	£976,307	63%
Tunbridge Wells	£621,879	£431,850	£190,029	31%	-£207,273	0%
Uttlesford	£325,304	£172,128	£153,176	47%	-£5,183	0%
Vale of White Horse	£618,639	£306,195	£312,444	51%	£30,745	5%
Wakefield	£3,405,540	£2,364,900	£1,040,640	31%	-£1,135,068	0%
Walsall	£3,879,239	£1,966,039	£1,913,200	49%	£104,443	3%
Waltham Forest	£2,053,994	£1,426,350	£627,644	31%	-£684,598	0%
Wandsworth	£1,987,681	£1,380,300	£607,381	31%	-£662,495	0%
Warrington UA	£1,589,583	£592,183	£997,400	63%	£452,592	28%
Warwick	£819,308	£228,168	£591,140	72%	£381,226	47%
Watford	£802,028	£177,617	£624,411	78%	£461,003	57%
Waverley	£527,485	£139,422	£388,063	74%	£259,794	49%
Wealden	£689,705	£160,840	£528,865	77%	£380,892	55%
Wellingborough	£550,382	£382,200	£168,182	31%	-£183,442	0%
Welwyn Hatfield	£826,436	£432,649	£393,787	48%	-£4,249	0%
West Berkshire UA	£548,870	£288,709	£260,161	47%	-£5,452	0%
West Devon	£355,977	£75,600	£280,377	79%	£210,825	59%
West Lancashire	£994,920	£533,778	£461,142	46%	-£29,933	0%
West Lindsey	£793,388	£409,959	£383,429	48%	£6,267	1%
West Oxfordshire	£474,564	£109,882	£364,682	77%	£263,591	56%
West Suffolk	£1,037,690	£634,933	£402,757	39%	-£181,381	0%
Westminster (see note 6)	£2,203,686	£503,257	£1,700,429	77%	£1,237,434	56%
Wigan	£3,509,222	£1,839,144	£1,670,078	48%	-£21,934	0%
Wiltshire UA	£3,222,151	£1,661,310	£1,560,841	48%	£32,435	1%
Winchester	£659,680	£169,879	£489,801	74%	£333,512	51%
Windsor and Maidenhead UA	£564,206	£275,290	£288,916	51%	£35,650	6%
Wirral	£3,910,992	£2,005,230	£1,905,762	49%	£60,950	2%
Woking	£505,452	£97,637	£407,815	81%	£317,988	63%
Wokingham UA	£415,594	£104,222	£311,372	75%	£215,487	52%
Wolverhampton	£3,272,264	£2,272,350	£999,914	31%	-£1,090,648	0%
Worcester	£868,557	£220,522	£648,035	75%	£445,155	51%
Worthing	£709,577	£492,750	£216,827	31%	-£236,503	0%
Wychavon	£767,251	£532,800	£234,451	31%	-£255,725	0%
Wyre	£1,043,738	£470,831	£572,907	55%	£139,743	13%
Wyre Forest	£952,367	£200,355	£752,012	79%	£567,686	60%
York UA	£956,904	£664,500	£292,404	31%	-£318,936	0%

Benefit Cap

252 households (and 487 children) in Kensington and Chelsea were affected by the benefit cap before the April 2020 COVID-19 changes according to our engine. This represents 0.3% of the total borough population, and 11.7% of the SHBE cohort
198 additional households (89 additional children) were projected to become affected by the benefit cap as a result of the new COVID-19 measures. This represented an increase of 78.6% in the number of capped households
The COVID-19 measures brought the total percentage of households capped in Kensington and Chelsea to 450, 0.6% of the total population (20.9% of the SHBE cohort)

Private renters and households with children are most likely to miss out on support from the COVID-19 measures as a result of the benefit cap
Private tenants that become benefit capped as a result of the new COVID-19 measures see their support increase by, £178 on average, compared to £522 for private tenants that are not affected by the benefit cap
159 lone parents and 29 couples with children were affected by the benefit cap in Kensington and Chelsea prior to the April 2020 changes, so will have received no increase in support from the COVID-19 measures
A further 34 lone parents and 11 couples with children were projected to become capped as a result of the new measures, so will not have received the full level of support available

Based on new projections from OBR, an estimated 4k households in Kensington and Chelsea will be unemployed in 2021. This projection assumes that furloughed households return to work after Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ends
If furloughed households do not return to work, the number of out of work households in Kensington and Chelsea could rise as high as 9k (based on projections from NIESR)
Based on current benefit cap rates for unemployed households in Kensington and Chelsea, this could mean anywhere from 540 to 1,362 out of work households being affected by the benefit cap in 2021 (if the COVID-19 response measures are kept in place)

Hear results from our latest analysis on how welfare support policies are impacting low income Londoners. See how your data is driving these insights.

Tuesday 30 June
14:00 to 16:00
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Join our online roundtable event on Tuesday 30 June to hear results from our latest analysis on how welfare support policies are impacting low-income Londoners. Click here for details.

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