mitigating the impact of welfare reform in scotland
TRANSCRIPT
Zoe CharlesworthPolicy in Practice
Mitigating the impact of
Welfare Reform
Thursday 7 September 2017
Agenda
1. About Policy in Practice
2. Targeting resources
3. How support is delivered
4. Final thoughts
We make the welfare system simple to understand, so that people can make the decisions that are right for them
www.policyinpractice.co.uk
SOFTWARE
individual impact
CONSULTANC
local impact
POLICY
national impact
Mitigating the impact for claimants
Who to target?
What support is needed?
How is support delivered?
1. Who to target?
Pro-active identification• Data analysis / client tracking
• Dependant on organisational requirements eg:
1. To protect rents: • Tenants with arrears and no monthly income and no savings
• Self-employed with no savings
2. Homelessness prevention: • Private tenants with no non non-dependants, savings or monthly earnings
3. Households that will lose under UC:• Those losing ESA WRAG/disability premiums. Self-employed
On-demand
2. What support is needed?
• Self-identification of need
• Triage• What is the trigger?• Do you have the rights tools?
Triage
Triage
Meeting the needs of your clients
of tenants require no support
30%of clients require some support
50%of clients require a lot of support
(and take up 80% of staff time)
20%
Source: Curo Group, 2017
3. How is support delivered?
• Self-service toolsSimple and easy to useEasily accessibleEngaging
• Support tools Benefits calculatorAdvice and support
How is support delivered?Using a calculator as a tool
How is support delivered? Client-focused advice
• Personalised
• Relevant
• Action-focused
Client preparedness - knowledge
Calculator example
How is support delivered? budgeting
Budgeting
- During 6 week wait and ongoing
- Impact of landlord payments?
- Impact of advance payments?
- Weekly earnings against monthly UC?
Budgeting support
How is support delivered?Monthly UC, weekly income
Some final thoughts …
• Transitional protection will end as changes of circumstances occur
• Mitigation and support measures need to be ongoing, not just for the initial transition
• Families with 2+ children will be significantly worse off after migration to UC (2019?)
• If you know who needs support in advance you can seek to avoid crisis
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Questions
Some questions from attendees
1. What resources or tools do you suggest for those vulnerable people and those with little or no IT skills?
2. To what extent are customers willing to accept assisted payment?
3. Can those on UC afford the rent we are going to be charging them?
4. To what extent should organisations consider a tenant's broader credit commitments, and how they are servicing these, to better understand budgeting and prioritising different debts
5. At what point in time was it best to start engaging with customers?