About Newham. Newham’s Research Team/ resilience agenda. Newham Household Panel Survey (NHPS). Facing Debt: Economic Resilience in Newham. Evidence based policy.

1. Using research to inform policy
Sarah Johnson, Senior Research Officer

2. Overview of presentation
• About Newham
• Newham’s Research Team/ resilience agenda
• Newham Household Panel Survey (NHPS)
• Facing Debt: Economic Resilience in Newham
• Evidence based policy
• Questions
Slide 2

3. About Newham
• Newham is situated in the east end of London and is
home to the Olympic Stadium
• GLA estimates put Newham’s population at about
338,600 in 2016
• It is the most ethnically diverse place in the UK with no
single ethnic group having a majority
• It also has a young population with 63% of the population
35 or under, compared to 45% for the UK overall
Slide 3

4. Newham: challenges and opportunities
• Challenges: low employment levels and lower than
average life expectancy. Newham is one of the most
deprived places in the country, 41% of residents are in
relative poverty
• Opportunities: growth of London eastwards,
investment including the Olympics, Westfield and plans
for the 3rd financial centre in London on the docks
• We are seeing change- Newham’s average IMD rank
has moved from 2 to 8 in the past 5 years
Slide 4

5. Research at Newham

6. Research at Newham
• The research team at Newham is made up of five officers
and is part of the wider policy, public affairs and research
team.
• Most of the research we undertake is commissioned directly
by the elected Mayor, Sir Robin Wales.
• But we do undertake some research commissioned by
services and provide advice and guidance around
undertaking research.
• The research team works in developing research projects,
planning the project, commissioning research, monitoring
the progress of the research and reporting/disseminating the
findings.
Slide 6

7. Research conducted at Newham
• Corporate surveys: We undertake three corporate surveys
annually/biannually (Newham Survey, NHPS and Tenants and
Leaseholds).
• Evaluations: These usually focus on council services/key policies
and can be an impact evaluation and/or a process evaluation. Some
examples include Newham’s Reading Guarantee and Workplace.
• Policy research: When looking to develop a certain policy/area we
may conduct policy research to explore the issue in more detail.
Some examples include the facing debt research and NewShare
research (shared equity scheme)
• Consultations: The research team provides guidance and signs off
all consultations at Newham. We are get involved in planning,
commissioning and running of larger/complex consultation e.g.
Budget Consultation.
Slide 7

8. Research website
• A lot of the research we conduct is just used internally within
the Council
• We do published some research externally
• More details of previous research we have conducted and
that is published can be found on Newham Council’s
website:
https://www.newham.gov.uk/Pages/Services/Our-research.aspx
Slide 8

9. Newham’s policy vision: the
resilience agenda
• Newham Council has developed a resilience agenda
in response to the challenges Newham faces
• This sets out our vision to help build personal,
community and economic resilience in Newham
• Building resilience in Newham will enable residents to
overcome the complex social challenges they face, in
order to secure long-term change
• All work undertaken at the council is linked to our
vision of resilience and trying to build resilience for our
residents
Slide 9

10. Newham Household Panel Survey
(NHPS)

11. Understanding resilience through
research
Slide 11
• Newham’s corporate research programme measures our
three key areas of resilience- personal, economic and
community
• The Newham Household Panel Survey (NHPS) is
Newham’s flagship survey, and gives the most detailed
insight into the lives of residents
• Each wave NHPS measures various aspects of
economic resilience including employment, income,
expenditure and financial management

12. Slide 12
About NHPS
• NHPS has been running since 2002. The 8th wave report is due to
be published soon
• NHPS is a representative panel survey, meaning we try to follow
up the same people every two years
• The London Borough of Newham is the only local authority in the
UK to undertake a longitudinal panel survey
• It is modelled on the national study, Understanding Society, though
NHPS is carried out every two years
• Attrition is a key challenge of the methodology

13. Economic resilience in wave 6 (2011)
• The median gross income of working residents in
Newham was £280 per week
• Most residents saved monthly (73 per cent), but the
majority of residents (56 per cent) saved less than £50 a
month
• One in four residents (23 per cent) found it hard to
manage their finances
• One in five (20 per cent) were in arrears on at least one
bill, and 7 per cent were behind with two or more
Slide 13

14. Facing Debt: Economic Resilience in
Newham

15. Introduction to Facing Debt
• Commissioned by LBN to explore financial skills, the
use of credit, the dynamics of debt and the impact of
welfare reform in Newham
• Research was undertaken by Professor Anne Power
and a team of researchers at the London School of
Economics
Slide 15

16. Facing Debt mixed methodology
• Longitudinal qualitative study with two waves between
March 2013 and January 2014
• 62 in-depth interviews (38 were interviewed in both waves)
analysed using narrative methodology
• Focus on two groups- 1) working households with incomes
up to £30,000 who were in debt, 2) households receiving
benefits who were impacted by welfare reform changes
• Additional questions added to NHPS wave 7
Slide 16

17. Findings from Facing Debt
• Triggers of debt included insecure housing, insecure
employment, benefit delays and unexpected bills
• Almost nobody had savings or cash reserves and most
debts were accrued through essential living costs
• Attitudes towards debt varied- a commitment to stay out of
debt by some meant sacrificing on heating or even food
• Findings from NHPS wave 7 confirmed the association
between poverty and priority debts in the wider population
Slide 17

18. Evidence based policy

19. MoneyWorks
• Aims: to promote economic resilience by strengthening debt
prevention and financial management in the borough
• Better deals for residents on: loans (including a payday
loan alternative) and other products and deals along with
support and guidance to help manage the cost of living. (We
a looking to set up a white goods shop as alternative to
BrightHouse)
• Delivery: via the web and face to face by Newham and the
London Community Credit Union (LCCU)
Slide 19

20. NHPS- wave 7 findings
• A key finding from wave 7 of NHPS was that nearly a fifth (18%)
of Newham residents aged over 21 work for less than the
National Minimum Wage (NMW)
• Residents who are more likely to be paid less than the NMW are
those who work for small employers, have lived in Newham less
than 2 years and are from a Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin
• Further analysis has been undertaken to explore the financial
impact of this underpayment. This estimated the overall cost of
underpayment of NMW to employed residents in Newham was
in region of £38.2 million
Slide 20

21. National Minimum Wage
• The findings from NHPS on underpayment of the
NMW are being used by Newham Council to lobby
Central Government
• We are asking for greater power for local authorities
to enforce the NMW or soon to be the National
Living Wage (NLW)
• The Council has joined forces with GMB to lobby for
greater powers. In March 2015 we launched our
campaign called ‘Pay by the rules’
Slide 21

22. Questions

23. Contact me:
Sarah Johnson: Sarah.Johnson@newham.gov.uk
https://www.newham.gov.uk/Pages/Services/Our-research.aspx
Slide 23
Find our research here: