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Plus new vacancies and events we're at in October
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In this issue

  • New research on the transition to Universal Credit
  • Contribute to our LGA backed research on the Local Housing Allowance
  • Good luck to all the finalists of the IRRV Awards 2019
  • Deven speaks at the Conservative Party Conference fringe meeting
  • Louise tackles debt on BBC Radio 4's The Fix
  • Deven speaks at the Civil Enforcement Conference and Neath Port Talbot's Poverty Symposium
  • We'll be at Solace - ask your Chief Executive to say hello
  • Register for our October, November, December and January webinars
  • Join the team and see what it's like to work here (including outtakes)

7 factors that determine how families will cope with the move to Universal Credit
Our new analysis, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, identifies 7 factors that determine a household’s ability to cope with the transition to Universal Credit.

These can often interact and overlap. Over 3 million low-income households yet to move to Universal Credit will face at least one of these challenges, whilst over 1 million will face two or more of these challenges. We give 4 recommendations that the Government should adopt now.

Read Universal Credit and Financial Resilience here

 
Join our roundtable to inform our LGA research on Wednesday 30 October

Policy in Practice has been commissioned by the Local Government Association to assess the impact of the local housing allowance freeze on homelessness and the related cost to local authorities.

As part of this research, we are establishing a panel of experts from local authorities throughout England and Wales to contribute experience and ideas. The published research will retain the anonymity of all contributions, but the assistance of the authority will be acknowledged.

Find out more here
Good luck to the IRRV Awards 2019 finalists

We would like to send a huge congratulations to our clients Barking and Dagenham, Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council, Durham County Council, Exeter City Council, Folkestone & Hythe District Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Westminster City Council who are all shortlisted for an IRRV Awards 2019. We have our fingers crossed for you all.

Visit us on Stand 23 at the IRRV Annual Conference next week

Discussing financial vulnerability at the Conservative Party Conference

Deven was asked 'Is welfare reform working?' at a panel for We Are Bright Blue and Human Rights Watch at the Conservative Party Conference. He joined fellow panelists Paul Johnson from Institute for Fiscal Studies, Heather Walters from  Church Action on Poverty and Kartik Raj from Human Rights Watch. New Minister, Thérèse Coffey was also invited to attend.

He said that the system clearly needs more money pumped into it. In a talk that focused on Universal Credit Deven argued that simplicity in policy is underrated and difficult to achieve. He urged Therese Coffey to continue to fight for simplicity within Universal Credit.

Read Deven's Twitter thread for more

Tackling debt on BBC Radio 4's The Fix

Policy Analyst, Louise Murphy, took part in a recording of BBC Radio 4's The Fix with Cat Drew and eleven other contributors to explore innovative ways to tackle debt for London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Louise said, "I'm looking forward to seeing what impact the winning idea has for the residents of Barking and Dagenham." The episode will be broadcast later in the year.
Showing how data can prevent hardship at Neath Port Talbot's Poverty Symposium

Deven Ghelani spoke at Neath Port Talbot's Poverty Symposium about households struggling with welfare reforms, debt and other challenges. He highlighted the work NPT is doing to tackle this by analysing their own data.

Deven joined speakers Cllr Doreen Jones, Steven Phillips, Aled Evans, and Gareth Nutt from Neath Port Talbot Council. Other speakers included Naomi Eisenstadt, University of Oxford and London School of Economics, Dr Steffan Evans, The Bevan Foundation, Sam Greasley, Awel y MôrPrimary School, Dr Keith Reid, Swansea Bay University Health Board, Jonathan Morris, Tai Tarian and Sian Williams, Toynbee Hall.

Read more about the event
Talking about debt and building financial resilience at CIVEA's Annual Conference

Deven spoke at the CIVEA Annual Conference on the topic of personal debt and financial resilience. In the panel session on Vulnerability and Debt Advice Deven talked about the general impact of welfare policies on our living standards, the Cabinet Office's Re-imagine Debt programme and government's recognition of this and then Policy in Practice's new research on transitioning to Universal Credit.

Deven said:
"The evidence shows that while Universal Credit is improving, many households will still struggle with the transition. With over 4 million households yet to move onto the new benefit, families facing multiple challenges, such as having no savings, facing delayed payments, and getting a lower award on Universal Credit will need additional support.

"The important point is that these households can be identified in advance and hardship prevented if they get targeted support to manage the move onto the new benefit. Universal Credit then becomes a better platform on which to build than the legacy system it replaces."
Say hello to us at SOLACE Summit 2019
We're excited to be attending the SOLACE Summit for the first time, please ask your Chief Executive to say hello to us on stand 1. We’ll be talking about using data for good and how we combine cutting-edge tech, insightful data analysis and expert policy knowledge to help organisations find relationships in datasets so they can understand what’s working, what can be improved, and how. The summit takes place in Birmingham on Wednesday 16 to Friday 18 October.

At a glance events and speaking engagements
Tuesday 8 to Thursday 10 October: IRRV Annual Conference
Telford. We’re supporting the conference again this year, please visit us on Stand 23.
Details here

Tuesday 15 to Wednesday 16 October: Local Government Strategy Forum
Cheshire. We are delighted to be invited to attend the Local Gov Strategy Forum for the first time. We’re looking forward to exciting conversations with local government’s most senior leaders about using data for good to tackle financial vulnerability.
Details here

Friday 25 October: The Northern Homelessness Conference 2019
Leeds. Jade Alsop has been invited to speak about using predictive analytics to identify those at risk of becoming homeless. She will share how to identify predictors of homelessness in your area alongside examples of local authorities who are using predictive analytics now.
Details here

Thursday 31 October: LACEF forum
Northampton. Deven Ghelani has been invited to speak about our early intervention work on arrears with local authorities who are using data analytics insights to do things differently.
Details here

Thursday 21 November: Westminster Briefing
London. Paul Howarth has been invited to speak at an upcoming Westminster Briefing event centred around 'Welfare Reforms and Reducing Rent Arrears in 2019: Policy Update, Developing an Effective Strategy and Managing Risk'.
Details here

Make a change for good. Work with us
We’re recruiting for exciting roles for people who want to make a difference. If you know a great Back End Developer or Policy and Operations Analysts please tell them to check out our vacancies below.

Back End Developer
Senior Policy and Operations Analyst
Policy and Operations Analyst
Meet our new team members

We would like to give a very warm welcome to our new team members (l-r) Adam Kenny, Business Account Manager, Denisa Boker, Senior Developer, James Rawlins, Client Services Manager, Alannah McGhee, Senior Marketing Executive, George Sanderson and Fabiana Macor, both Junior Policy and Operations Analysts, all below.

See our full team here
What's it like to work at Policy in Practice?

Hear what some our team say about working here in our recruitment videos, below.
And check out the bloopers ...

Not everyone was on point under pressure in our interviews, as you can see in this short video. Take a look at some of the outtakes from the team interviews. Sound on from the start for full effect.


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