With guest speakers: Rachael Walker, Policy in Practice; Amanda Bailey, North East Child Poverty Commission; Gillian Roll, Karbon Homes; Mark Wilkinson, Northumbrian Water
On demand webinar
Missing out: Over £1 billion in support is unclaimed in North East England each year
10 July
View the webinar
Policy in Practice estimates that a staggering £23 billion of income-related benefits and social tariffs will go unclaimed across Great Britain in 2024. The distribution of eligibility, accessibility, and need varies by region.
In the North East of England alone, an estimated £1.33 billion in support is unclaimed annually across more than 752,000 households. On average, this means £501 per person per year goes unclaimed in the North East, which is 40% higher than the national average of £358 per person.
Maximising income through the uptake of available support is crucial to help households during the cost of living crisis, improve health outcomes, and boost local economies.
Creating an effective safety net to support struggling families requires a precise understanding of the unclaimed benefits landscape and the demographics of those who are not claiming their entitlements.
Listen back to hear
- The scale of unclaimed support in the North East
- Regional disparities, including why the North East has 40% more unclaimed benefits per person than the national average
- How data analytics can help local governments identify and reach vulnerable residents
- The benefits of localised schemes for improving regional equity and reducing administrative complexity.
Listen back to our speakers
We asked Policy in Practice to look at unclaimed support for us at a regional level. We made a really conscious decision to put maximising family incomes at the top of the list because it was incredibly clear that we really have to pull every lever available to maximise family incomes as an immediate priority.
In the last 12 months, we've clawed back around £260 million for people in unclaimed benefits. The detail is in the data and we are able to identify, target and track households who are not claiming what they're entitled to. So when we talk about what's missing in the North East and Amanda's fantastic work, there are answers to this. We're not powerless. We're not helpless. There are solutions.
We've been working with Policy in Practice to get income maximisation integrated with our social tariff assessment. We've seen about £7.2 million pounds worth of additional benefits identified for the customers who accessed it. 96% of the people who've gone through it were actually eligible for extra benefits and the benefits have averaged about £1,400 pounds a household, so really quite material numbers.
