Tackling inequality across the borough was a key focus for Enfield Council in 2022. Their holistic use of data across teams has seen them pilot the use of Universal Credit data for their Council Tax Reduction Scheme and increase take-up of Pension Credit.
Enfield Council’s good news story of 2022
Policy in Practice is a key partner for Enfield in our efforts to address homelessness and inequality. Using the LIFT dashboard has enabled us to target our resources more effectively to produce better outcomes for our residents.
We are now starting to use the dashboard to model the effects of proposed policy changes to enable us to maximise the benefits to both the Council and our residents.
Richard Sorensen, Head of Housing Advisory Service, Enfield Council
Learn more about Enfield Council’s good news story
We were keen to address the east-west divide in deprivation levels by tackling inequality within the borough.
Over 10% of Enfield residents have an annual gross household income of less than £15,000, whilst 30% of working-age residents are not working. This unemployment rate is higher than the rates for both London as a whole, and for England. Accurately identifying households eligible for welfare support was key to vastly improving financial vulnerabilities across the borough.
By implementing LIFT, we could quickly and accurately identify households that fell into target demographics and offer tailored support. The Household Support Fund (HSF) was a key piece of funding for Enfield to distribute, especially for those not eligible for the government’s £650 Cost of Living payment.
Pension Credit take-up was another key initiative for Enfield.
The focus of the campaigns were on financially vulnerable households on low incomes and/or comprising adults aged 65+.
For households on low incomes, the focus was on homelessness prevention.
We have piloted an initiative using Universal Credit data to encourage take-up of our Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme. This innovative approach has already seen impactful results:
- 139 households have taken up the CTS
- 55 residents have been helped into work
- 40 cases supported to avoid homelessness
The focus for this cohort now is reducing any household arrears. Already, Household Support Grant funding has supported 81 residents and cleared arrears of £213k.
For residents aged 65+, LIFT was used to identify those eligible for but not claiming Pension Credit.
A targeted campaign gave meaningful results:
- 730 eligible households identified and contacted
- 99 of those contacted have successfully begun claiming Pension Credit
- £564,708 total annual amount awarded
- £5,704 average Pension Credit claimed per person
- £6,776,496 lifetime economic impact of the campaign based on average age of Pension Credit claimants in Enfield (70) and average life expectancy (82)
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households have taken up the Council Tax Support scheme
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cases supported to avoid homelessness
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