IntoWork2015 Conference: Targeting Support - Who Will Welfare Reforms Hit Hardest?

Targeting Support: Who will welfare reforms hit hardest?

About Policy in Practice• We make the welfare system

simple to understand, so people can make the decisions that are right for them.

• Work with Birmingham, Leeds, Serco, DWP and many others.

• Recently secured investment from Sean Williams and Big Lottery.

• Looking to build long term partnerships, to support people into work, and toward independence

Consultancy

SoftwarePolicy

www.policyinpractice.co.uk

Targeting Support: Who will Welfare Reforms hit hardest?


• Context: How can we co-ordinate support across Birmingham City Council? Approach: A detailed Impact Assessment for all reforms, today and tomorrow

• Outcomes: Better targeted support that has a tangible impact on behaviour

Today’s speakers

Guy ChaundyBirmingham City Council

Deven GhelaniPolicy in Practice

Context: Birmingham City Council

The Scale of Birmingham• Size: Over 1m residents• Diversity: Population, Geography & Affluence• Unemployment: 5.9% vs 2.5% nationally;

30,000 JSA claimant count, 2nd highest• Housing: 56% o/occ, 24% social, 20% PRS• Politically Active: Largest Local Authority in

Europe, with 40 wards and 120 active local councillors


Context: Birmingham City Council

The Local Authority is also:• A partner among other stakeholders• A large Social Landlord, with 63,000

properties• Universal Credit is live• Reduced budgets to deliver support now and

in the future


Support within Birmingham

• Established partnerships with RSLs, Third sector and private landlords, with Strategic District Housing Panels in each of the 10 Districts

• A single Welfare Reform Multi Agency Committee chaired by Cabinet Member, with a sub group focusing on UC implementation– A single portal for feeding back issues on UC to DWP

within the formal monitoring process– Shared training and learning sessions with JCP work

coaches from each of the 12 sites– However…


However...• We need to understand the impact of all welfare

changes, to better co-ordinate activity.

www.policyinpractice.co.ukwww.policyinpractice.co.uk

Chris Gibbs, Birmingham City Council

We want the council to move beyond sticking plaster solutions. If we can promote work and independence by understanding who is impacted by welfare reforms and working closely with partners, we will have more resources available for people that still need our support. We have an obligation to protect and support the most vulnerable

http://policyinpractice.co.uk/case_study/welfare_reform_impact_assessment_leeds/

Our approach:Using local data insights effectively

SHBE

Universal Benefit Calculator

See the impact of specific and cumulative reforms at an aggregate and a household level

A detailed impact assessment for Cabinet members that informs targeted and tailored local welfare support

Any Questions

?


benefit cap

Under-occupying LHA cap

Council Tax Reduction

CTRS

Tax Credit cuts

lower UC higher UC Better off in Work

# of households affected by multiple reforms

No impact 1 reform

2 reforms

AA1 0 0 7 20 TBC 9 16 32 8 21 7AA4 1 0 59 38 TBC 21 25 55 10 44 25AA11 1 19 45 99 TBC 68 61 143 47 113 47AA16 0 0 0 0 TBC 0 1 1 1 0 0AB1 0 16 25 74 TBC 30 46 99 36 70 34AB2 2 39 89 224 TBC 37 123 246 109 189 96AB3 0 31 41 140 TBC 38 88 134 78 128 55AB4 0 75 166 341 TBC 106 190 456 148 327 163AB5 3 129 73 336 TBC 136 180 432 150 318 155AB6 14 266 630 1355 TBC 406 899 1456 834 1354 575AB7 17 629 346 1839 TBC 780 1038 2235 822 1636 838AB8 43 442 1083 2662 TBC 1140 1306 2786 912 2119 1346AB9 51 968 979 3466 TBC 1481 1614 3103 1411 3085 1676

Who has been impacted by

reforms to date?

What will be the impact of

Universal Credit?

Who has been hit by multiple reforms?

The depth of our analysis goes even deeper, to

household level

Explain a complex picture to CabinetDetailed picture of welfare reform at household level


Tax Credit cuts?

Preliminary Findings – Universal Credit

• Universal Credit with full transitional protection would bring the local economy £1.6m each month – an additional £30/month for each working age household on average.

Couple with children Couple without children

Lone parent Single

£32,028

£18,189

£26,956

£15,959

Earnings required for UC to fall to zero


Please note:These shows preliminary findings for Leeds and Birmingham Councils – not to be shared

Preliminary Findings – Benefit Cap


£26,000 £23,000 £20,000 0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

756

4,305

7,553

Number of Benefi t Cap Cases

• A reduced Benefit Cap would more than quadruple the number of capped households

Average Loss£60.22 / week


•85% of self-employed households have earning below the Minimum Income Floor.

•There are 2,518 18-21 year olds on housing benefit

•The number of households in the ESA WRAG Group

•The number of households affected by changes to Tax Credits

Some key findings in one large city:



Better Outcomes: A better Council Tax Scheme and operational plan for UC

The council has now approved an innovative Council Tax Support scheme aimed at supporting jobseekers into work. The scheme is based on the analysis of schemes provided by PiP.


Better partnership workingBetter preparation for Universal CreditBetter targeted supportBetter personalised support

VS

Support that leads to savings:Targeted and Tailored Support – letters that engage people


How do you show the impact to the person in a meaningful way?

JSAChild Tax

Credit

ESAHousing Benefit

Working Tax Credit

Income Support

Engage people and change behaviour


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0n3j_Hd6eE

What have we learned?• Local Authorities face difficult choices

– £12bn of cuts with reforms aimed at changing behaviour.– The combined impact on households is changing, complex and confusing.

• The risk is that households won't get the right support– Councils need to better co-ordinate support with partners. – This includes financial support and support toward independence.– Without better co-ordination, and support into employment, there won't be enough

support available to go around.– This will cost the council and taxpayers through impacts on other services.

• Birmingham Council, with Policy in Practice have developed an approach that will help you to– Better co-ordinate support and prepare for reforms– Explain a complex picture, both to cabinet and to the end user– target and tailor support effectively – Have a tangible and measured impact on behaviour


Any Questions?


Next Steps

• Visit our stand• Pick up the Leeds CC case study• Follow us on Twitter• Learn more on one of our Webinars


Deven [email protected]

@deven_ghelani

Thank you

Guy [email protected]


IntoWork2015 Conference: Targeting Support - Who Will Welfare Reforms Hit Hardest?

Government & Nonprofit

Transcript of IntoWork2015 Conference: Targeting Support - Who Will Welfare Reforms Hit Hardest?