View the slides from our webinar: 2018: A policy review of the year. We were joined by guest speakers Deven Ghelani and Paul Howarth, Policy in Practice.
We reviewed the social policy analysis we delivered for clients in 2018 and recapped on key findings we uncovered. We also discussed what this means for local organisations in 2019.
Find out what we learnt about:
Homelessness and housing
Changing living standards of low income households
Universal Credit's impact on people
Universal Credit's impact on frontline organisations
For more information please visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk.
4. Agenda
Introducing Policy in Practice
Policy changes during 2018
Universal Credit
Homelessness Reduction Act
Our research
Motor Neurone Disease Association
Supported Housing: Riverside, St. Mungos, Salvation Army, YMCA
Local Government Association: The employment impact
Autumn Budget: the impact of Universal Credit on your residents
Other policy work (Benefit Cap, Self-employment, financial resilience)
The impact of our work
Select Committee Evidence Sessions
Universal Credit Managed Migration
Focusing on prevention and engaging residents
House of Lords and Northern Voices events
What we will be focusing on next year…
5. We make the welfare system
simple to understand, so that
people can make the decisions
that are right for them
8. Universal Credit: recent changes
• Higher work allowances (£1,000 for families with children or a disability)
• Ending seven waiting days and introducing a two week HB & ESA / IS / JSA run-on
• Sixteen month repayment of advance payments, maximum deduction level reduced
to 30% of personal allowance, landlord portal for those in the social-rented sector
• Protection for those losing out unfairly through transitional protection, including
those losing the severe disability premium, those with changing earnings or
childcare costs, and protection for savers for 12 months
• 18 to 21-year-olds are now able to claim the housing element of Universal Credit
• UC claimants in temporary accommodation and supported housing will continue to
receive Housing Benefit
10. Other welfare changes and Homelessness
Reduction Act 2017
Homelessness Reduction Act (effective from April 2018):
• Prevention duty - Take ‘reasonable steps to help the applicant to secure that
accommodation does not cease to be available’ (s.4) – applies to all eligible applicants
threatened with homelessness within 56 days’
• Relief duty - Take ‘reasonable steps to help the applicant to secure that suitable
accommodation becomes available’ (s.5) – applies to all eligible applicants who are
homeless
• Original rehousing duty - ‘Secure that accommodation is available for occupation by the
applicant.’ (s.193 Housing Act 1996) – applies to priority need and unintentionally
homeless applicants
Some other welfare changes:
• Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) became a loan, to be repaid with interest after the
property has been sold
• LHA limits will not be applied to rents for people living in the social-rented sector
• Increase in the minimum wage and personal tax allowance
14. What impact will Universal Credit have on
people diagnosed with Motor Neurone
Disease, and their families?
- Terminal and rapidly progressing illness
- Findings relate to people diagnosed with other rapidly progressive / terminal
illnesses
- Claim process & claimant commitment continues to pose challenges
- The DWP definition of terminal illness is too narrow:
- A DS1500 form can be issued if a patient is expected to die in the next six months, while
changes underway in Scotland impose no time limit
- Explicit consent rules make it harder
- Loss of disability premiums mean the people are likely to be worse off, though
transitional protection for those in receipt of SDP has been announced
The implications of Universal Credit for
people living with MND
15. The impact of Universal Credit on
employment outcomes
Is Universal Credit getting more people into work?
“The Department for Work and Pensions (the
Department) will never be able to measure whether it
has achieved its stated goal of increasing
employment”
Opportunities to evidence the employment effect of
Universal Credit do exist:
• Admin data captures people on UC
• Employment rate on UC at three months versus
legacy benefits
• Three approaches: New claims, Change in
circumstances, UC vs non UC areas
16. • Qualitative research and full-scale review
• Our findings anticipated Government decision
that funding should remain in social security
system
• Housing Benefit the best option for foreseeable
future
• Universal Credit can be adapted for supported
housing residents
• More involvement of support workers and
greater flexibility
Universal Credit: making it work for
supported housing residents
17. • Even with the Autumn Budget
amendments, more households will see
household income reduced than will
gain under UC
• Increases in support are targeted at
employed households, many of whom
would have gained support pre-budget
• Households in receipt of disability
benefits, such as PIP or DLA, who are
not too ill to work, will see little change
in support.
• Non-working households will see little
change in support.
Our response to the Autumn Budget
19. Trust for London allowed us to
ask and answer a different set of
questions:
• The dynamic impact / churn
• The impact of the Benefit Cap
• The impact on self-employed
people
• Growing issues with financial
resilience
• Managed migration: Evidence
to the SSAC enquiry
Other policy changes
22. Evidence presentations
Self-employment
Policy in Practice gave evidence at
the London Assembly,
November 2018
Benefit Cap
Policy in Practice gave evidence to
the Work and Pensions Select
Committee, October 2018
24. Your Housing Benefit /
Council Tax data
+ Arrears
+ Support
Benefit and Budgeting
Analytics Engine
Who is impacted, How
much? What actions can
they take? Are they better
off? What are the Council-
wide effects?
Analytical engine + household datasets
27. and targeting support to people struggling now, or
who will struggle in the future…
Households with
children and
those with low
financial
resilience.
This reduces the
1,272 self-
employed
households to
317
28. …to help improve people’s lives
Help people apply for benefits, show the impact of moving into work and give
personalised guidance on actions to increase income & lower costs.
30. Some outcomes in Croydon
• Over a 12 month period, over 2,000 families were helped to avoid
homelessness through support with budgeting, benefits and employment
advice - preventing further cost to the Council and fulfilling Homelessness
Reduction Act requirements
• Cost avoidance savings worth over £4 million
• Helped 217 people get jobs
• 100 people avoided unnecessary impacts from the benefit cap (40 helped to
claim working tax credit, 15 moved into work, 45 supported to better paid
employment)
• 4,700 Universal Credit claimants received budgeting and digital skills help
so they can better access online services
37. Next steps
Download Autumn Budget 2018 white paper
Download Croydon Council case study
Download Universal Credit Roadmap
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Budgeting support: Best practice ways to help low income households
Wed 16 Jan 2019 at 10:30
4 different government departments
Now and into the future
This is show a timeline of all the changes / reforms at a national level –
-show how much change is coming over the 5 years and the huge task LA have in getting these changes implemented.
now more than ever communication between LA’s, 3rd party organisations and residents is needed. Helping residents understand what this all means for them.
Do this after recapping what the changes to UC were (previous slide)
Yes, no further changes to UC are required
Yes, the changes do go a long way – but more changes are required
No, many more changes are still required to make UC work
No, nothing can make UC work now
Problem
Findings 1
Findings 2
Findings 3
Recommendation & Results
Universal Credit has a substantial impact on people living with MND
Managing a Universal Credit claim is difficult for people living with MND
> The DWP definition of terminal illness is too narrow
> Explicit consent rules under Universal Credit make claim management harder
> The focus on work is often insensitive and inappropriate for people living with MND
Some will lose and some will gain support under Universal Credit
> Removal of disability premiums under Universal Credit
> More gradual withdrawal of support for people living with MND and earning
> Receiving Carers Allowance does not affect Universal Credit
> Notional income threshold for benefits eligibility reduced under Universal Credit
> The best support lies with individual attention to circumstances
Small changes can go a long way to make Universal Credit work
http://policyinpractice.co.uk/the-implications-of-universal-credit-on-people-living-with-motor-neurone-disease/
Is Universal Credit getting more people into work?
Opportunities to evidence the employment effect of Universal Credit do exist
Our approach: tracking the outcomes of individual households over time
Findings: there is some evidence that Universal Credit has a small positive impact on employment
So, does Universal Credit fulfil its intent to get more people into work?
The impact of Universal Credit will look very different locally
http://policyinpractice.co.uk/is-universal-credit-getting-more-people-into-work/
And three weeks later Esther McVey resigned…
Add Times coverage and pic of Zoe at London Assembly
Make the link
– Influence through our analysis, which is based on your data…
- Plus we can help local authorities deliver policy….
Islington
30k households
One-third of the population
70% are of working age
23,000 eligible for Universal Credit
Average impact is -£6.50 a week, one third gain, one third lose, one-third stay the same
Rising living costs
Governments may know how one policy affects many people. We can show how all policies combined affect one person.
We work with household level data from over 40 different local authorities to
Welfare reforms we model, and how accurate we are.
Which policy changes are your biggest priorities for 2019?
Preventing homelessness
Preparing people for Universal Credit managed migration
Preparing self-employed people for Universal Credit
Dealing with lower living standards (debt and arrears)
Other, eg 2 child limit, severe disability premium