Developing a Fair Finance Strategy for Leicester & Leicestershire Damon Gibbons

This is just the start of the process Fair Finance Task Group established by the Diocese following from the Bishop’s Poverty Commission Representation from the City & County Councils and Voluntary Sector Desk based review of the evidence base to assess the drivers of financial problems and develop local priorities and suggested further work-streams Consultation document launched today through to end of April Strategy to inform ‘bids’ for resources from May onwards We need your input!

The drivers of financial problems We identify three main drivers of financial problems in the sub-region: – Low pay, including low paying self employment – The rising cost of living, particularly for essentials (food, fuel, housing, childcare, and transport) Welfare reform – Not just cuts in the level of entitlement, also greater conditionality and changes in eligibility – Affecting both people in and out of work – Particular need to support people with the roll out of Universal Credit

Percentage of jobs paying below £7.85 per hour (Parliamentary Constituencies, April 2014)

The rising cost of living Food and fuel – Both have increased in cost in recent years – Lower income households spend a greater proportion of their budget on food and fuel and than better off households – Food bank usage has increased significantly but more sustainable solutions are required

The rising cost of living Housing costs – Although rented accommodation is generally affordable across the sub-region there are some ‘pressure’ points depending on location and the size of accommodation required – Social housing is constrained and costs are set to rise – Private tenants are often not aware of their rights and struggle to raise deposits and access home energy grants – The ‘bedroom tax’ is affecting some social housing tenants – The budget for Discretionary Housing Payments is being cut – There are some good local examples of effective housing support services (e.g. STAR and The Bridge)

The rising cost of living Childcare costs – The cost of a part-time nursery place has risen by nearly a third over the past 4 years – The take up of free early education in the sub-region is lower than for the East Mids as a whole. There may be particularly low take up amongst Minority Ethnic communities – There are gaps in provision of childcare in disadvantaged areas – Lower income households struggle to meet the up- front costs of childcare and cover costs during the school holidays

The rising cost of living Transport – There are some good examples of initiatives to keep travel costs low for Jobseekers and low income commuters Leicester’s Flexi Ticket and Travel Aid scheme The ‘Wheels to Work’ project – There is limited access to public transport for people needing to travel to employment sites out of the main urban areas, and shift workers also face problems

The impact of welfare reform Households claiming benefit will be worse off, on average, by £1,615 a year – or £31 a week – in real terms in 2015/16 as a result of welfare reforms Changes to eligibility rules, greater conditionality and use of sanctions are causing major problems The budgets for Local Welfare Schemes have been cut The roll out of Universal Credit is likely to cause problems for some claimants

Responding to the challenges Proposal to focus on seven priorities and develop detailed action plans around each – Improving support for low paid workers – Meeting the needs of people in rented accommodation – Reducing the cost of living for low income households – Working with the financial services industry – Improving support for people in financial difficulty – Identifying and supporting the most vulnerable – Mitigating the impact of financial problems on children

Improving support for low paid workers Establishing a National Minimum Wage Enforcement Project Conducting a sub-regional campaign to increase the number of Living Wage employers, and for local authorities to extend their Living Wage policies to contractors Resourcing the development of Clockwise Credit Union Expanding Workplace Financial Education Undertaking research into low value self employment and the impact of the New Enterprise Allowance

Meeting the needs of people in rented accommodation Co-ordinate a campaign to provide support for private sector tenants, including the development of a ‘private sector landlord charter’, to ensure people know their rights and are provided with help to obtain deposit, furniture, home energy grants, and advice if they have financial problems Develop an action plan to expand financial capability approaches for both social and private tenants, which links to the digital access and skills agenda Expand the take-up of credit union Budgeting Accounts for Universal Credit claimants

Reducing the cost of living for low income households Review childcare sufficiency assessments. Formulate proposals to help lower income households access affordable childcare, including by establishing a loan scheme to help them meet up-front costs. Scale up transport projects to help Jobseekers and low income commuters Establish community bulk purchase projects for food and basic items. Test whether these can be linked to the procurement practices of local schools and/or hospitals. Use local authority procurement to provide lower income households with opportunities to obtain furniture and essential goods at reduced prices. Underwrite credit union loans for this purpose

Working with the financial services industry Engage with the banks to assess the contribution they are making to financial inclusion in the sub-region. Hold a local ‘banking summit’ with the intention of securing commitment to the Fair Finance Strategy. Explore opportunities to leverage additional support through the public sector procurement of financial services. Use public sector investment to aid the development of affordable credit and banking services for low income households and SMEs.

Improving support for people in financial difficulty Improve screening processes for financial problems amongst front-line services and provide support for front-line staff across the sub-region to conduct this Consider the need to expand the provision of debt and welfare rights advice, including through peer to peer mentoring schemes, and promote the co- commissioning of debt and benefits services Calculate the Social Return on Investment in advice services and a business case for further investment. Audit local authority debt recovery policies across the sub-region and promote best practice.

Identifying and supporting the most vulnerable Organisations working with the most disadvantaged to identify people who will struggle with Universal Credit and develop a joint ‘offer’ of support: – Advice and assistance to obtain ‘alternative payment arrangements’ – Debt and welfare rights advice and help to obtain discretionary payments – Help to get on-line and develop financial and digital skills – Access to budgeting accounts and affordable financial services from the credit union – Advice on employment and housing rights and help to reduce heating, transport and childcare costs Pro-active marketing and use of financial incentives to engage

Mitigating the impact of financial problems on children Social landlords review their repossession policies to ensure that child welfare implications are fully considered prior to instigating proceedings, and that procedures are put in place to minimise the potential disruption to the child’s education Consider the impact of financial problems within Safeguarding Children strategies Work with ‘Troubled Families’ to build the financial skills of parents Establish a schools and credit union partnership programme to: – Promote and incentivise young people to save with the credit union – Develop Savings Clubs and financial education in primary schools – Develop a programme of support for children affected by financial problems

Over to You! Have we got the underlying causes of financial problems right? Are there other issues you want us to focus on? Can you help with the evidence base? What information do you have concerning needs and the scale and costs of provision? Do you agree with the seven priorities? Are there others? What do you think about the proposed work- streams and can you offer help to develop any of the plans?

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