Sarah Lambert, Affordability Assessment Sales Manager for Policy in Practice, delivered this presentation to the IRRV Yorkshire & District Association Vulnerability Seminar on Wednesday 27 November 2019. The seminar theme was Treating Customers with Respect and Dignity by using Data Analytics for Decision Making and Making a Better Treatment Route. Sarah has always been passionate about ensuring customers are at the heart of an organisation and its people, delivering first class service to consumers when they are facing financial and mental health pressures in their lives. In this presentation Sarah covered: - Consumer debt and vulnerability - What makes someone vulnerable? - The impact on vulnerable people in debt of Universal Credit and Brexit - How specialist data partners can help identify vulnerability, target and engage support and track change - The impacts of indebtedness For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242

1. Sarah Lambert
Policy in Practice
IRRV
How debt, financial
resilience and poverty
creates vulnerability

2. We make the welfare system
simple to understand, so that
people can make the decisions
that are right for them
We help people toward
independence by making
government policy simple
to understand

3. 3
Give the best support
you can to help
people

4. 444
People in debt?

5. • 17.2% of consumers are over indebted, and only around a third seek
debt advice
• Council tax debt is now the biggest reason people seek debt advice
• The debt advice sector has a gap in supply - 600,000 people can’t
access debt advice when they need it
• The average consumer in problem debt has 6 creditors
• 25-34 year old adults are 4 times more likely to be in problem debt
• 9 million adults regularly use credit cards, overdrafts or borrow money to
buy food or pay bills because they’ve run short of money
Consumer debt and vulnerability

6. What makes someone vulnerable?

7. 777
The impact on vulnerable people
in debt of:
Universal Credit
Brexit

8. 5

9. • 1.6 million people on Universal
Credit today
• A further 1.6m people moving
onto Universal Credit this year
• 2 million people moving on
through ‘managed migration’
from 2020
Key recommendation:
The DWP and councils can
identify these pressure points,
and act proactively to prevent
hardship and ease the transition
to Universal Credit.
Universal Credit is rolling out fast

10. The average amount of income
after costs for low income
households is £452/month.
• With a deal, income after
costs falls by £100 per year (on
average)
• Under a no deal scenario,
which looks unlikely, income
after costs falls by £250 per
year
• However, unemployment and
a weaker economy driving
austerity could lead to Brexit
impacting incomes by as
much as £1400 / year
The impact of Brexit
CPI is forecast to hit 3.7% due to
devaluation, plus a further 1% impact
on costs due to tariff / non-tariff
barriers
Unemployment + 0.3% with a deal
Unemployment + 2.6% with no deal

11. 111111
Engagement and solutions

12. How specialist data partners can help
EngageIdentify Track
people who need
your support the most
the impact of policy
and effectiveness of
interventions
your residents with
targeted support

13. • Reduced costs of enforcement and
improved collection rates
• Reduced evictions, in turn reducing care
costs for children and the direct impacts of
moving schools
• Improved wellbeing and better mental
health outcomes. Less anxiety and
depression, lowering costs to the NHS from
GP involvement / medication costs
• Preventing suicide
The impacts of indebtedness

14. 141414
The power of data-led strategies to
reduce poverty

15. Household data + advanced analytics

16. Calculator and LIFT Dashboard
• Our Affordability and Benefits Calculator is an outcome-focused tool
that helps your support you customers out of poverty and hardship
• The dynamic calculator for businesses and customers provides a full
income and expenditure compliant to industry standards
• The self serve functionality has embedded links allowing customers to
easily make applications for the support they are eligible for
• Used by 10,000 consumers daily, available on Gov.uk and via our
client base
• Shows where customers could be overspending and where they
could reduce outgoings
• The LIFT Dashboard uses household level datasets to identify
vulnerability so you can target support where it’s needed most
• Track change over time to see what interventions are working
Tools to help you identify vulnerability, target support and track change

17. 16,934 low income households in Neath Port Talbot

18. 2,596 are in council tax arrears

19. 1,255 owe more than one month’s council tax

20. 205 of them are impacted by welfare reform

21. 59 of whom face an ongoing cash shortfall

22. … and seven will be worse off under Universal Credit

23. www.policyinpractice.co.uk
Thank you
Sarah Lambert
sarah@policyinpractice.co.uk
07525 202603
Ashleigh Legge
ashleigh@policyinpractice.co.uk
07900 516274

24. A team of professionals
with extensive
knowledge of the
welfare system who are
passionate about
making social policy
work
We help over 80 local
authorities use their
household level data to
identify vulnerable
households, target
support and track their
interventions
Our benefit calculator
engages over 10,000
people each day.
We identify the actions
people can take to
increase their income,
lower their costs and
build resilience