Browse our webinar slides to learn how to influence central government policy development and get your frontline experiences heard. With Paul Howarth and Jake Love Soper.
A new Parliamentary term brings fresh opportunity to talk to decision-makers about the things that really matter.
We think it’s important that policy hears from practice. But we also know it can be hard for people on the front line to get their voice heard above the noise.
Our guest speakers spoke about how to influence central government policy development and get your frontline experiences heard. With Paul Howarth and Jake Love Soper.
For more details call 0330 088 9242
https://policyinpractice.co.uk/webinar-how-to-influence-central-government/
Deven Ghelani, Policy in Practice, spoke at the National Housing Federation's Welfare Reform Conference 2017 on Tuesday 24 January.
In Deven's short session he covered:
1. The impact of welfare reform policies. Governments may know how one policy affects many people but what's important, and what we've shown housing associations, is how all policies combined affect one person.
2. Policy in Practice analysis, featured in The Guardian, showed low income households will be worse off by £41.45 per week by 2020. In-work households are hit harder, they lose £48.90.
3. How we helped Newcastle CC and YHN to understand the impact of welfare reforms on households in Newcastle, and what they could do to help the most vulnerable households.
4. How housing associations can use data to assess risk and revealed details, via our project with HACT and OCSI
These are his slides.
Contact
www.policyinpractice.co.uk
hello@policyinpractice.co.uk
0330 088 9242
Policy in Practice's Commercial Director, Jade Alsop, hosted an interactive workshop about how predictive analytics can help tackle homelessness at the London Homelessness Conference. Delegates took part in discussions about how administrative datasets can be interrogated for social good and used, by local authorities, to identify vulnerability, target support and track change.
For more details visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
How data can help identify people at risk of homelessnessPolicy in Practice
Jade Alsop, Commercial Director of Policy in Practice was invited to speak at the Westminster Briefing in November 2019 to illustrate 'How data can help identify people at risk of homelessness'.
This presentation focused on how our Benefit and Budgeting Calculator helps our clients to draw valuable insights from their datasets.
Jade highlighted client case studies to show how Croydon Council, Luton Council, Barking and Dagenham Council, Royal Borough of Greenwich Council and the Guinness Group have all used their data to uncover vulnerability and proactively target support to those at risk.
For further information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk.
Deven Ghelani, Policy in Practice, spoke at the National Housing Federation's Welfare Reform Conference 2017 on Tuesday 24 January.
In Deven's short session he covered:
1. The impact of welfare reform policies. Governments may know how one policy affects many people but what's important, and what we've shown housing associations, is how all policies combined affect one person.
2. Policy in Practice analysis, featured in The Guardian, showed low income households will be worse off by £41.45 per week by 2020. In-work households are hit harder, they lose £48.90.
3. How we helped Newcastle CC and YHN to understand the impact of welfare reforms on households in Newcastle, and what they could do to help the most vulnerable households.
4. How housing associations can use data to assess risk and revealed details, via our project with HACT and OCSI
These are his slides.
Contact
www.policyinpractice.co.uk
hello@policyinpractice.co.uk
0330 088 9242
Policy in Practice's Commercial Director, Jade Alsop, hosted an interactive workshop about how predictive analytics can help tackle homelessness at the London Homelessness Conference. Delegates took part in discussions about how administrative datasets can be interrogated for social good and used, by local authorities, to identify vulnerability, target support and track change.
For more details visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
How data can help identify people at risk of homelessnessPolicy in Practice
Jade Alsop, Commercial Director of Policy in Practice was invited to speak at the Westminster Briefing in November 2019 to illustrate 'How data can help identify people at risk of homelessness'.
This presentation focused on how our Benefit and Budgeting Calculator helps our clients to draw valuable insights from their datasets.
Jade highlighted client case studies to show how Croydon Council, Luton Council, Barking and Dagenham Council, Royal Borough of Greenwich Council and the Guinness Group have all used their data to uncover vulnerability and proactively target support to those at risk.
For further information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk.
Deven Ghelani was invited to talk about the the impact of the benefit cap through the use of administrative data at a webinar organised by the University of York on Thursday 26 November 2020.
He was joined by a range of speakers, Dr Kitty Stewart, LSE and Dr Donald Hirsch, Loughborough University and Claire Hall, Child Poverty Action Group, to name but a few.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
A basic income experiment was conducted in Finland in 2017–2018 to find ways to reshape the social security system. Evaluation study of the basic income experiment is underway.
This is the presentation material used by Phil Hayes-St Clair and David Burt to analyse COVID-19 (as at March 17, 2020) and share tips for how to think about, plan and lead through the uncertainty of generated from COVID-19.
Latest findings from Policy in Practice's data led investigation into the causes and consequences of poverty in London were presented on 20 September 2018.
We recently shared the latest findings from our pan-london analysis of living standards, tracking 600,000 low income families across 19 London boroughs over two years. The work is unique in its use of large scale administrative data, linked over time, and its ability to look forward at poverty projections for individual households. The approach is being used by a dozen local authorities across the UK to target support.
Highlights from Phase Three include:
Low income Londoners are becoming less financially resilient. The proportion of Londoners with low financial resilience has grown by 20% in the last two years, and will continue to grow through to 2020
Employment helps build financial resilience. Employment is the main driver of people improving their financial resilience; for people affected, welfare reforms are a driver of lower resilience, but they don’t tell the full story
Living standards fluctuate. Over two years a quarter of low income households in work lost their job at least once; improving job stability can help build resilience
The future isn’t bright. Londoners on low incomes face a bleak future with an average drop in their disposable income of £100 p/w if rents and other livings costs continue to rise as expected.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk/low-income-Londoners, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
Read about our work to proactively tackle homelessness using local predictors, developed with household data. With Claire Horton, Newcastle City Council.
Local authorities must meet new prevention duties under the Homelessness Reduction Act. Policy in Practice is helping councils identify the predictors of homelessness in their areas. Using existing data we segment households into those coping, struggling, at risk or in crisis to help prevent future homelessness.
View these slides to see how Policy in Practice’s LIFT dashboard can help you tackle homelessness by:
identifying who may be at risk of homelessness
offering tailored messages to help you engage with those households
tracking what happens to those households over time
We will be joined by Claire Horton, Newcastle City Council, who will share how they are using the dashboard to help meet the new requirements of the Homelessness Reduction Act.
The Homelessness Reduction Act shifts the focus to early intervention, extends the period during which an authority should consider someone as being threatened with homelessness, requires local authorities to develop an action plan for people identified as being at risk of homelessness and places a duty on public services to notify a local authority if they come into contact with someone they think may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
For further details please email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
How can Physical Activity and Sport make a better county? It's not just about Physical health. It's so much more. And what kind of workforce do we need....Keynote to the Hertfordshire Sports and Physical Activity Partnership Event.
Family and Parenting Institute: the possibilities and limits of parentingAdfam
Katherine Rake from the Family and Parenting institute sets out some key facts and figures and discusses some the current policy environment for families.
Webinar: Care homes, retirement housing and the coronavirus - Presentation sl...ILC- UK
This webinar, supported by the ILC Partners Programme, provided practical advice to organisations wanting to learn about how different organisations providing care and housing services for older and vulnerable people are responding. The webinar highlighted good practice and explored what additional support is needed from government over the short term.
Webinar: Understand how Universal Credit affects Council Tax Reduction SchemesPolicy in Practice
Universal Credit full service will change the amount of Council Tax Support households receive and how much this will cost the council.
To best support all households, councils need to know the full impact that Universal Credit full service will have in their area. This crucial information lets councils consider scheme change to support the most vulnerable households.
In this webinar, we explain the detail of how Universal Credit affects the Council Tax Support that households receive and the cost to the council. We offer some rules of thumb on typical winners or losers, and suggest who may need support.
View the webinar slides to learn:
- how to model the impact of Universal Credit in your CTR scheme
- why changing your CTR scheme for Universal Credit roll out is important
- how certain groups of households will be affected
- the impact on council spending
- what you can do to protect vulnerable groups
With guest speaker Jenny Hoare, Wolverhampton City Council.
For more information please visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242
Nick Pearce: Growth regimes, statecraft and incremental change. Presentation at seminar Reforming social security – What can we learn from basic income experiments? 17.12.2021.
Miska Simanainen: Benefit take up in the finnish basic income experiment. Presentation at seminar Reforming social security – What can we learn from basic income experiments? 17.12.2021.
Olli Kangas: Can Universal Basic Income solve future Income Security Challenges? Some tentative answers from the Finnish Basic Income (BI) experiment. Presentation at 5th Conference of the Regulating for Decent Work Network, Geneva, 4.7.2017.
Evidence and Wellbeing | Local Authority Case StudiesAndrea Edwards
Using wellbeing evidence in Local Authorities: Case study findings
Presented by Pippa Coutts, Carnegie UK Trust, and Stewart Martin.
This session will present the findings from case studies in Fife, Hertfordshire, South Norfolk and Brighton & Hove, which looked at how these Local Authorities use evidence on wellbeing in their decision making.
Deven Ghelani was invited to talk about the the impact of the benefit cap through the use of administrative data at a webinar organised by the University of York on Thursday 26 November 2020.
He was joined by a range of speakers, Dr Kitty Stewart, LSE and Dr Donald Hirsch, Loughborough University and Claire Hall, Child Poverty Action Group, to name but a few.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
A basic income experiment was conducted in Finland in 2017–2018 to find ways to reshape the social security system. Evaluation study of the basic income experiment is underway.
This is the presentation material used by Phil Hayes-St Clair and David Burt to analyse COVID-19 (as at March 17, 2020) and share tips for how to think about, plan and lead through the uncertainty of generated from COVID-19.
Latest findings from Policy in Practice's data led investigation into the causes and consequences of poverty in London were presented on 20 September 2018.
We recently shared the latest findings from our pan-london analysis of living standards, tracking 600,000 low income families across 19 London boroughs over two years. The work is unique in its use of large scale administrative data, linked over time, and its ability to look forward at poverty projections for individual households. The approach is being used by a dozen local authorities across the UK to target support.
Highlights from Phase Three include:
Low income Londoners are becoming less financially resilient. The proportion of Londoners with low financial resilience has grown by 20% in the last two years, and will continue to grow through to 2020
Employment helps build financial resilience. Employment is the main driver of people improving their financial resilience; for people affected, welfare reforms are a driver of lower resilience, but they don’t tell the full story
Living standards fluctuate. Over two years a quarter of low income households in work lost their job at least once; improving job stability can help build resilience
The future isn’t bright. Londoners on low incomes face a bleak future with an average drop in their disposable income of £100 p/w if rents and other livings costs continue to rise as expected.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk/low-income-Londoners, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
Read about our work to proactively tackle homelessness using local predictors, developed with household data. With Claire Horton, Newcastle City Council.
Local authorities must meet new prevention duties under the Homelessness Reduction Act. Policy in Practice is helping councils identify the predictors of homelessness in their areas. Using existing data we segment households into those coping, struggling, at risk or in crisis to help prevent future homelessness.
View these slides to see how Policy in Practice’s LIFT dashboard can help you tackle homelessness by:
identifying who may be at risk of homelessness
offering tailored messages to help you engage with those households
tracking what happens to those households over time
We will be joined by Claire Horton, Newcastle City Council, who will share how they are using the dashboard to help meet the new requirements of the Homelessness Reduction Act.
The Homelessness Reduction Act shifts the focus to early intervention, extends the period during which an authority should consider someone as being threatened with homelessness, requires local authorities to develop an action plan for people identified as being at risk of homelessness and places a duty on public services to notify a local authority if they come into contact with someone they think may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
For further details please email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
How can Physical Activity and Sport make a better county? It's not just about Physical health. It's so much more. And what kind of workforce do we need....Keynote to the Hertfordshire Sports and Physical Activity Partnership Event.
Family and Parenting Institute: the possibilities and limits of parentingAdfam
Katherine Rake from the Family and Parenting institute sets out some key facts and figures and discusses some the current policy environment for families.
Webinar: Care homes, retirement housing and the coronavirus - Presentation sl...ILC- UK
This webinar, supported by the ILC Partners Programme, provided practical advice to organisations wanting to learn about how different organisations providing care and housing services for older and vulnerable people are responding. The webinar highlighted good practice and explored what additional support is needed from government over the short term.
Webinar: Understand how Universal Credit affects Council Tax Reduction SchemesPolicy in Practice
Universal Credit full service will change the amount of Council Tax Support households receive and how much this will cost the council.
To best support all households, councils need to know the full impact that Universal Credit full service will have in their area. This crucial information lets councils consider scheme change to support the most vulnerable households.
In this webinar, we explain the detail of how Universal Credit affects the Council Tax Support that households receive and the cost to the council. We offer some rules of thumb on typical winners or losers, and suggest who may need support.
View the webinar slides to learn:
- how to model the impact of Universal Credit in your CTR scheme
- why changing your CTR scheme for Universal Credit roll out is important
- how certain groups of households will be affected
- the impact on council spending
- what you can do to protect vulnerable groups
With guest speaker Jenny Hoare, Wolverhampton City Council.
For more information please visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242
Nick Pearce: Growth regimes, statecraft and incremental change. Presentation at seminar Reforming social security – What can we learn from basic income experiments? 17.12.2021.
Miska Simanainen: Benefit take up in the finnish basic income experiment. Presentation at seminar Reforming social security – What can we learn from basic income experiments? 17.12.2021.
Olli Kangas: Can Universal Basic Income solve future Income Security Challenges? Some tentative answers from the Finnish Basic Income (BI) experiment. Presentation at 5th Conference of the Regulating for Decent Work Network, Geneva, 4.7.2017.
Evidence and Wellbeing | Local Authority Case StudiesAndrea Edwards
Using wellbeing evidence in Local Authorities: Case study findings
Presented by Pippa Coutts, Carnegie UK Trust, and Stewart Martin.
This session will present the findings from case studies in Fife, Hertfordshire, South Norfolk and Brighton & Hove, which looked at how these Local Authorities use evidence on wellbeing in their decision making.
Educating Policy Makers and Telling Our StoryJim McKay
Policy presentation at the Alabama Children's Trust Fund Grantees meeting in Birmingham, AL, Aug. 2, 2016.
Federal updates on child welfare legislation are included.
The transition to Universal Credit and the introduction of a lower benefit cap will become a reality for thousands of people this Autumn.
For the first time, Policy in Practice has modelled how welfare reform is affecting cities, towns and London Boroughs differently to create a national picture.
Using household-level data from different local authorities we’ve modelled the likely impact of continued deployment of welfare reforms on towns and cities that aren’t yet significantly affected.
By analysing the impact of Universal Credit on different types of councils we can predict how similar local authorities are likely to be hit.
Some areas in the UK will see a major impact almost overnight as a result of welfare reforms.
Listen to this webinar to learn:
1. How your local authority peers are impacted by welfare reforms (by council type)
2. What impact the lower benefit cap, Universal Credit and housing reforms will have (by council type)
3. How households in your local area are likely to be affected
From evidence to actions: How can we use evidence to better inform investment...ILRI
Presented by Isabelle Baltenweck, Peter Ballantyne and Michael Victor at the Global Livestock Advocacy for Development (GLAD) Virtual workshop for sustainable livestock champions, 19–21 May 2020
Susie Rabin's presentation at the "Meaningful and Manageable Evaluation" at the NCVO Campaigns Conference 2011.
More presentations can be found here:
http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/campaignsconference
Susie Rabin
The presentation was a workshop at Evolve 2014: the annual event for the voluntary sector in London on Monday 16 June 2014.
The presentation was chaired by Anna Bloch from Charity Finance Group and shares highlights of how charities have adapted and are continuing to adapt to the climate, covering reductions in statutory funding and new fundraising strategies.
Find out more about the Evolve Conference from NCVO: http://www.ncvo.org.uk/training-and-events/evolve-conference
Find out more about the work NCVO does around funding: http://www.ncvo.org.uk/practical-support/funding
Webinar - How Are Global Companies Addressing Pay Equity?PayScale, Inc.
Join Buro Happold’s Head of People Data, Vicky Thorburn; Payscale’s Director of Social Impact, Vicky Peakman; and Payscale’s Chief Product Evangelist, Ruth Thomas on Tuesday, January 17th at 9 AM PST as they discuss their pay equity journeys and how organisations can address this issue.
Education Law Conference Manchester - Monday 10 June 2019Browne Jacobson LLP
Designed to inform, challenge and enliven your perspectives, our packed agenda was designed to provide innovative ideas and fresh perspectives. With a headline session on the management of transgender children needs within a school setting, we aim to provide you with the advice and guidance that the sector currently lacks.
Other topics included:
learning from child death inquests
good governance – so much more than compliance
managing difficult parents and their complaints.
In this Policy in Practice webinar Deven Ghelani and Louise Murphy were joined by Mark Fowler, Community Solutions Director for London Borough of Barking and Dagenham to talk about designing effective data-led local authorities.
Today's forward thinking local authorities are adopting a data led approach to deliver the highest quality, people-centred services for their residents. By applying smart analysis techniques to their data, councils are developing big ideas for change that are working in their areas.
In the latest of our webinars showcasing how public sector administrative data is being used for good, join us to hear how our guest speakers are using data to transform their organisations intelligently.
Listen back to hear how data analysis has:
- Helped redesign corporate strategy
- Enabled services to be redesigned around residents
- Evidenced service need that's driven decision making
To find out more visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242
The National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools is excited to present a two-part webinar featuring the Policy Readiness Tool
In Part 2, you will hear the stories of how public health practitioners have used the Policy Readiness Tool in practice and discuss challenges and successes when applying the Policy Readiness Tool.
ALSO AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHtFaVCpvhE
Part 1 slides are available here: http://www.slideshare.net/NCCMT/nccmt-webinar-policyreadinesstoolpt19172015en
A summary statement of this tool developed by NCCMT is available here: http://www.nccmt.ca/registry/view/eng/144.html
NCCMT is one of six NCCs for Public Health in Canada. More on the NCCs at www.nccph.ca. Production of this webinar has been made possible through a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Similar to How to influence central government (20)
Deven Ghelani spoke at Destin Solutions webinar on the impact the Breathing Space policy will have on local authorities.
View these slides to find out:
- The context for debt and collections in the UK
- What is Breathing Space?
- The impact on council tax collection
- Our findings for the GLA
- The case for early intervention: ReImagine Debt
For more details call 0330 088 9242
https://policyinpractice.co.uk/webinar-how-to-influence-central-government/
2020 has brought fundamental changes to our lives, both personally and professionally. As our economy took second place to our health, so the welfare safety net came to the fore to support families who faced an income shock, seemingly overnight.
In this webinar Deven Ghelani, Zoe Charlesworth, Paul Howarth and Duncan Hatfield looked back at the policy response to the seismic shifts in our economy and society wrought by the pandemic. We revisited the research findings we uncovered from our analysis for clients across both local and central government. And, as the focus turns to the health of our economy, we look at what 2021 means for people facing redundancy, debt or lower incomes.
Listen back to the webinar to hear:
- How well the COVID-19 welfare changes worked, and what should happen next
- How living standards changed this year, and what the future holds
- The outlook for 2021 and how organisations can best support families
Our policy experts will discuss our analysis and what this means in 2021 for council tax support schemes, housing and homelessness demand, the outlook for living standards in the context of economic recovery, Universal Credit and Brexit.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
Current Challenges and the Future Direction of Social Security ReformPolicy in Practice
Westminster Insight’s timely Welfare Reform Forum explored how to process the huge upsurge in claims, improving advice for those dealing with immediate cash flow problems, changing assessment processes to safeguard claimants, identifying people falling through gaps in the system and supporting the most vulnerable people financially affected by the pandemic.
Zoe's keynote address covered:
- The implications of the Government’s response to COVID 19 on the social security system
- Improving system design, delivery, flexibility and speed to support people in times of crisis
- Ensuring the social security system can weather the longer-term effects of the crisis
- Creating a person-centred, holistic and supportive social security system
In today’s economic climate falling into debt is perilously easy, getting out is hard. Firms in the debt sector have adopted flexible and ethical collection practices to support families who are struggling, yet costs and the time taken to collect have increased.
This Policy in Practice webinar featured guest speakers Carole Kenney, Director, Welfare and Customer Care, Gareth McNab, Social Inclusion Lead, Nationwide Building Society who spoke alongside Zoe Charlesworth, Director of Policy and Operations, Policy in Practice, and Sarah Lambert, Affordability Assessment Manager, Policy in Practice.
Whether you’re a collection agency, utility company, advice organisation, local authority or housing association, you’re on the frontline for helping people in debt.
You can boost the financial resilience of households by helping them to increase their income. In this way, you can increase collection rates and social impact, in the knowledge that you’re doing the right thing.
In this webinar we discussed:
- How COVID-19 has already hit people’s incomes, and what’s in store
- Who the newly vulnerable households are
- How to reduce existing arrears and the chance of a customer falling into arrears
- How to minimise the cost of debt collection
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242
The Future of the Welfare State: Universal Credit, Furlough Schemes and Other...Policy in Practice
Deven Ghelani was invited to talk about the effectiveness of Universal Credit and the social policies introduced in the light of COVID-19 at this conference by Public Policy Exchange on Thursday 1 October 2020.
He joined speakers Debbie Abrahams MP, Steve McCabe MP, Dr Sophie Wickham and Dr Guy Standing.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
Sarah Lambert, Affordability Assessment Manager, Policy in Practice, delivered this presentation to the Money Advice Liason Group (MALG) Virtual summit on Thursday 29 October.
Over 20 million of us don’t have the necessary skills to effectively manage our money and 11.5 million of us have less than £100 in savings.
With predictions of widespread unemployment and an expected tsunami of people needing debt advice and support during the coming months and years, this session explored the innovative new tools and approaches that will help organisations to improve the financial capability of customers, increase the financial resilience of customers and engage customers earlier.
Sarah Lambert from Policy in Practice discussed research and initiatives we've developed, including our award winning Benefit and Budgeting Calculator, to support organisations to get ahead of the curve.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
AIM: Data protection, data governance, data managementPolicy in Practice
Tues 29 Sept: Deven Ghelani spoke with Paul Withers, DPO for Walsall Council, about our lessons so far from a powerful new project backed by the LGA and NHS digital to link data across adult services, children's services, public health, the NHS and police. Good data science relies upon access to good data, and we spoke about focusing on impact to win over stakeholders, actively raising and resolving data governance concerns upfront, and how the basics of good data management (security, data cleaning, data linking) are harder and more important than the 'sexy' data science that this project will become known for.
For more information email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242
Councils are looking ahead to what COVID-19 means for collection rates, people’s ability to pay, and whether their council tax support schemes can cope with increased demand.
Zoe and Megan share key findings of three new reports:
- An 18 month project working with 22 Welsh local authorities for the Welsh Government on Universal Credit, council tax reduction scheme and rent arrears in Wales Reports for the Greater London
- Authority on the impact of the Coronavirus Hardship Fund, and on the impact that a flexible approach to collections has on collection rates Analysis for the Cabinet Office on the effectiveness of an early intervention approach to managing arrears in two councils, Newcastle and Barking and Dagenham Council tax arrears were already £3.5 billion pre-crisis and are forecast to reach nearly £5 billion by the end of parliament.
Zoe Charlesworth examines what the worsening financial crisis means for council’s collection rates, budget setting and council tax support schemes, and will look at efforts across central and local government to improve how council tax debt is recovered.
Zoe Charlesworth, Head of Policy at Policy in Practice, spoke at the IRRV Virtual Annual Conference about those people who have struggled or missed out on support due to COVID-19 uncertainty.
The new COVID-19 schemes operate alongside means-tested benefits, pay different amounts and cater to different kinds of eligibility, resulting in a wide yet inequitable net of support. Zoe Charlesworth presents analysis by Policy in Practice that looked at over 2,500 individual cases of households who struggled with or missed out on support. Zoe will explore the characteristics of eight groups who you should watch out for as you advise residents, and a worked example of surplus earnings rules. Delegates learnt who missed out on support, what impact of COVID-19 support has had on inequality and, practically, who will need more guidance as their circumstances change.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk
Reimagine Debt. A tale of two councils: Reimagine Debt CollectionPolicy in Practice
Deven Ghelani, Director and Founder of Policy in Practice, spoke at the IRRV Virtual Annual Conference about the Cabinet Office's reimagine debt pilot scheme.
As COVID-19 continues to hit the financial resilience of many families councils are looking ahead to what this means for collection rates. With council tax arrears already at £3.5 billion pre-crisis, and forecast to reach nearly £5 billion by the end of parliament, councils will need to find new ways to maximise collections. Deven Ghelani spoke about how two councils identified which residents owed multiple debts to them, how they stabilised their incomes, and how they tracked the effectiveness of support. Attendees learnt how early intervention offers a proven approach for other councils to consider to prevent problem debt.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk
Jade Alsop, Commercial Director at Policy in Practice, spoke at Housemark's Ten Days of Data festival about embedding a data driven culture within organisations such as housing providers, local authorities and others.
Commitment to embrace data-driven decision making is needed at all levels of an organisation to realise the full value of insights. At this event Jade joined the speaker panel with Charlotte Carpenter from Karbon Homes and Colin Sales from 3C Consultants to explore how to lead by example to ensure what we do, say and ask, fosters a data-driven culture and embeds the use of data across an organisation.
For more information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk
IRRV virtual conference 2020: COVID-19 who has fallen between the gaps?Policy in Practice
In October 2020 Zoe Charlesworth, Head of Policy Operations presented to IRRV Annual Conference and Exhibition attendees on COVID-19: Who has fallen between the gaps?
Watch the full presentation: www.policyinpractice.co.uk/IRRV-2020
For more information please visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk
At the Government Data Science Festival 2020 Deven Ghelani, Director and Founder of Policy in Practice, joined Paul Withers, Data Protection Manager for Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, to present a case study of data science in local government.
Deven and Paul introduced the Active Intervention Management (AIM) project to the audience of local government data and digital officers. AIM is one of three Social Care Digital Innovation (SCDIA) 2020/21 projects that's run by CC2i on behalf of the Local Government Association with match funding from NHS Digital.
AIM uses basic level data to identify potential vulnerabilities and support the improvement of early intervention services. Organisations from fire and rescue, children's services and police authorities are all taking part in AIM.
For more information contact Deven Ghelani via deven@policyinpractice.co.uk or Paul Withers via paul.withers@walsall.gov.uk. Alternatively contact hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242.
Identifying people at risk of homelessness is a key priority for all local authorities. Deven Ghelani, Director and founder of Policy in Practice was invited to present to the Housing and Homelessness Needs group of London Councils on Friday 11 September 2020.
In his presentation to Deven covered the following agenda:
- Uncertainty: The outlook for the end of furlough and 2021
- The impact of COVID-19 to date: Data from 20 London BoroughsHousing affordability – who is at risk of homelessness
- The future outlook: Caseload, financial resilience and service demand
- Insight into action
For more details and to discuss how Policy in Practice can help your local authority to identify vulnerability, target support and track change using data please contact 020 3239 5579 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk.
COVID-19 has created residents who are newly financially vulnerable and who will be looking to you for help in the near future. But who are these people, and what action can you take now to stop them falling into crisis? And, critically, how will your support services need to adapt?
As the pandemic continues to hit the financial resilience of many families, councils are looking ahead to what this means for collection rates, and whether their council tax support schemes can cope with increased demand.
In this webinar, Zoe Charlesworth summarised the latest and forthcoming policy updates which will drive the need for local authorities to redesign their CTR schemes, highlighting the importance of how understanding this context can assist scheme design.
Paul Howarth presented some key insights from our analysis on Understanding the Impact of Universal Credit on the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Rent Arrears in Wales.
Dr Ben Fell shared details of our latest work on future modelling and how it can help you future-proof CTR schemes for local authorities.
Finally, Sally Sanders shared how working with Policy in Practice has helped Enfield Council model a new scheme to help protect residents from COVID-19 income shocks.
Listen back to hear:
- New analysis for the Welsh Government on the impact of Universal Credit on rent and council tax arrears
- How COVID-19 is expected to change your caseload, and what this means for your council tax support scheme
-Measures you can take to boost future collection rates and minimise arrears
The future is uncertain and recovery will be tough. It’s difficult to make projections about what the policy landscape will look like, what the wider economic trends will be and what will happen to different groups of people.
But we need to make projections to see implications for demand for council support and services, and indebtedness.
Listen back to hear:
- Key findings from our rapid-response COVID-19 analysis for the Greater London Authority
- How a new approach to real-time analytics can support councils with their economic and social recovery plan
- What our new future modelling analysis is predicting for both household and council finances
Roundtable - Who are the most vulnerable residents in London?Policy in Practice
Local authorities have stepped up in the fight against Coronavirus. As the lockdown lifts and our thoughts turn to recovery, proactively identifying and targeting support to those who need help most, using all of the insights available, has never been more important.
In this roundtable, hosted by Policy in Practice, we discussed who the most vulnerable residents in London are, both now and in the future.
We shared the latest analysis from our data-led investigation into the causes and consequences of poverty in London, supported by Trust for London.
We also revealed findings from our research for the Greater London Authority on how different welfare support policies have impacted London's poorest households.
We explored what the findings mean for London's local authorities and how services may need to change to proactively safeguard the wellbeing of London's residents.
Listen back to learn about:
- The financial situation of London's residents before COVID-19
- How an Innovate UK backed project can local authorities a real-time view of living standards now
- Which households will be most vulnerable in 2021, how this will impact council finances, and actions councils can take to mitigate the impact on residents
- Findings from research for GLA into the impacts of COVID-19 on low-income Londoners and best practice in flexible collection practices
Our Trust for London supported project will continue for another six months so councils who have not yet taken part still have time to do so. Email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 088 9242for details.
Many self-employed people will receive a grant through the new Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) this month. These payments can be up to £7,500 and will be counted as earnings under Universal Credit.
As a result, lots of self-employed households will be affected by the complex 'surplus earnings' rules for the first time. In short, these rules mean that for many households, the SEISS money will be taken into account as earnings not just for the month it was received, but for future months as well.
Welfare advisors need to understand the rules, and need a tool that can calculate eligibility all in one place, in order to advise people what their Universal Credit payments will be, and when they need to reclaim.
Hear from Sue McCarron from Citizens Advice Wirral who shared how frontline staff have supported customers facing with fluctuating income using the Benefit and Budgeting Calculator.
Review the slide to learn:
- A simple guide to the SEISS, Universal Credit and surplus earnings rules
- Worked examples to illustrate the challenge, and what to look out for
- How our Benefit and Budgeting Calculator helps
Is your post COVID-19 Council Tax Support Scheme sustainable?Policy in Practice
The £500 million Hardship Fund allows councils to give extra support to help people affected by Coronavirus. Councils are expected to use this welcome funding to reduce the council tax bills of working-age people who are already receiving council tax support, by £150 in 2020/21.
In this webinar, Zoe Charlesworth presented new nationwide analysis on the Hardship Fund allocations and discussed what this means for collection rates. Megan Mclean explored what this means for those who become newly unemployed, as well as CTR support schemes. Finally, Deven Ghelani looked at what councils can do now to proactively support people.
Review the slides to learn:
- How the Hardship Fund and council tax collection rates interact
- What the future looks like, and how you can plan for future vulnerability
- How to identify the most vulnerable households in your area so you can target additional support
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has made life tough for people who are scared for their health and their finances. It’s also brought huge pressure to frontline organisations who are there to help.
In this webinar we are joined by Ellie Kershaw, Tower Hamlets and Grant Bailey, Cheltenham Borough Homes to discuss how they are dealing with the current changes, and how the crisis now will affect their residents in the future.
We explore how services may need to change and how organisations can be proactive now to safeguard their residents’ wellbeing.
Review the slides to learn:
- How other organisations are helping people deal with Coronavirus
- Ideas to consider that can drive a proactive, prevention approach
- Best practice for dealing with increased demand with limited resources
As Europe's leading economic powerhouse and the fourth-largest hashtag#economy globally, Germany stands at the forefront of innovation and industrial might. Renowned for its precision engineering and high-tech sectors, Germany's economic structure is heavily supported by a robust service industry, accounting for approximately 68% of its GDP. This economic clout and strategic geopolitical stance position Germany as a focal point in the global cyber threat landscape.
In the face of escalating global tensions, particularly those emanating from geopolitical disputes with nations like hashtag#Russia and hashtag#China, hashtag#Germany has witnessed a significant uptick in targeted cyber operations. Our analysis indicates a marked increase in hashtag#cyberattack sophistication aimed at critical infrastructure and key industrial sectors. These attacks range from ransomware campaigns to hashtag#AdvancedPersistentThreats (hashtag#APTs), threatening national security and business integrity.
🔑 Key findings include:
🔍 Increased frequency and complexity of cyber threats.
🔍 Escalation of state-sponsored and criminally motivated cyber operations.
🔍 Active dark web exchanges of malicious tools and tactics.
Our comprehensive report delves into these challenges, using a blend of open-source and proprietary data collection techniques. By monitoring activity on critical networks and analyzing attack patterns, our team provides a detailed overview of the threats facing German entities.
This report aims to equip stakeholders across public and private sectors with the knowledge to enhance their defensive strategies, reduce exposure to cyber risks, and reinforce Germany's resilience against cyber threats.
Show drafts
volume_up
Empowering the Data Analytics Ecosystem: A Laser Focus on Value
The data analytics ecosystem thrives when every component functions at its peak, unlocking the true potential of data. Here's a laser focus on key areas for an empowered ecosystem:
1. Democratize Access, Not Data:
Granular Access Controls: Provide users with self-service tools tailored to their specific needs, preventing data overload and misuse.
Data Catalogs: Implement robust data catalogs for easy discovery and understanding of available data sources.
2. Foster Collaboration with Clear Roles:
Data Mesh Architecture: Break down data silos by creating a distributed data ownership model with clear ownership and responsibilities.
Collaborative Workspaces: Utilize interactive platforms where data scientists, analysts, and domain experts can work seamlessly together.
3. Leverage Advanced Analytics Strategically:
AI-powered Automation: Automate repetitive tasks like data cleaning and feature engineering, freeing up data talent for higher-level analysis.
Right-Tool Selection: Strategically choose the most effective advanced analytics techniques (e.g., AI, ML) based on specific business problems.
4. Prioritize Data Quality with Automation:
Automated Data Validation: Implement automated data quality checks to identify and rectify errors at the source, minimizing downstream issues.
Data Lineage Tracking: Track the flow of data throughout the ecosystem, ensuring transparency and facilitating root cause analysis for errors.
5. Cultivate a Data-Driven Mindset:
Metrics-Driven Performance Management: Align KPIs and performance metrics with data-driven insights to ensure actionable decision making.
Data Storytelling Workshops: Equip stakeholders with the skills to translate complex data findings into compelling narratives that drive action.
Benefits of a Precise Ecosystem:
Sharpened Focus: Precise access and clear roles ensure everyone works with the most relevant data, maximizing efficiency.
Actionable Insights: Strategic analytics and automated quality checks lead to more reliable and actionable data insights.
Continuous Improvement: Data-driven performance management fosters a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
Sustainable Growth: Empowered by data, organizations can make informed decisions to drive sustainable growth and innovation.
By focusing on these precise actions, organizations can create an empowered data analytics ecosystem that delivers real value by driving data-driven decisions and maximizing the return on their data investment.
Adjusting primitives for graph : SHORT REPORT / NOTESSubhajit Sahu
Graph algorithms, like PageRank Compressed Sparse Row (CSR) is an adjacency-list based graph representation that is
Multiply with different modes (map)
1. Performance of sequential execution based vs OpenMP based vector multiply.
2. Comparing various launch configs for CUDA based vector multiply.
Sum with different storage types (reduce)
1. Performance of vector element sum using float vs bfloat16 as the storage type.
Sum with different modes (reduce)
1. Performance of sequential execution based vs OpenMP based vector element sum.
2. Performance of memcpy vs in-place based CUDA based vector element sum.
3. Comparing various launch configs for CUDA based vector element sum (memcpy).
4. Comparing various launch configs for CUDA based vector element sum (in-place).
Sum with in-place strategies of CUDA mode (reduce)
1. Comparing various launch configs for CUDA based vector element sum (in-place).
Data Centers - Striving Within A Narrow Range - Research Report - MCG - May 2...pchutichetpong
M Capital Group (“MCG”) expects to see demand and the changing evolution of supply, facilitated through institutional investment rotation out of offices and into work from home (“WFH”), while the ever-expanding need for data storage as global internet usage expands, with experts predicting 5.3 billion users by 2023. These market factors will be underpinned by technological changes, such as progressing cloud services and edge sites, allowing the industry to see strong expected annual growth of 13% over the next 4 years.
Whilst competitive headwinds remain, represented through the recent second bankruptcy filing of Sungard, which blames “COVID-19 and other macroeconomic trends including delayed customer spending decisions, insourcing and reductions in IT spending, energy inflation and reduction in demand for certain services”, the industry has seen key adjustments, where MCG believes that engineering cost management and technological innovation will be paramount to success.
MCG reports that the more favorable market conditions expected over the next few years, helped by the winding down of pandemic restrictions and a hybrid working environment will be driving market momentum forward. The continuous injection of capital by alternative investment firms, as well as the growing infrastructural investment from cloud service providers and social media companies, whose revenues are expected to grow over 3.6x larger by value in 2026, will likely help propel center provision and innovation. These factors paint a promising picture for the industry players that offset rising input costs and adapt to new technologies.
According to M Capital Group: “Specifically, the long-term cost-saving opportunities available from the rise of remote managing will likely aid value growth for the industry. Through margin optimization and further availability of capital for reinvestment, strong players will maintain their competitive foothold, while weaker players exit the market to balance supply and demand.”
Levelwise PageRank with Loop-Based Dead End Handling Strategy : SHORT REPORT ...Subhajit Sahu
Abstract — Levelwise PageRank is an alternative method of PageRank computation which decomposes the input graph into a directed acyclic block-graph of strongly connected components, and processes them in topological order, one level at a time. This enables calculation for ranks in a distributed fashion without per-iteration communication, unlike the standard method where all vertices are processed in each iteration. It however comes with a precondition of the absence of dead ends in the input graph. Here, the native non-distributed performance of Levelwise PageRank was compared against Monolithic PageRank on a CPU as well as a GPU. To ensure a fair comparison, Monolithic PageRank was also performed on a graph where vertices were split by components. Results indicate that Levelwise PageRank is about as fast as Monolithic PageRank on the CPU, but quite a bit slower on the GPU. Slowdown on the GPU is likely caused by a large submission of small workloads, and expected to be non-issue when the computation is performed on massive graphs.
4. Agenda
1. Why Policy in Practice influences government
2. Your objectives
3. Who to talk to at DWP
4. Timing: the policy pulse
5. Current DWP priorities
6. A word on committees
7. Your personal approach
11. The importance of having objectives
Be clear about what your organisation wants to achieve: why do you want to influence
central government?
12. Where to go in DWP
• Who you want to influence will start with what you are trying to achieve
• Match your objective to the right person in the department
STRATEGY
DELIVERY
13. A primer on ‘grades’
• Grade 1: Perm Secretary
• Grade 2: Director General
• Grade 3: Director
• Grade 4: Rare: qualified professional such as a Doctor
• Grade 5: Deputy Director
• Grade 6: Management grade
• Grade 7: SEO, HEO. Policy expert: should have enough detailed
knowledge to discuss policy options and explain why a decision was
taken
EXPERTISE
INFLUENCE
15. Timing: the government pulse
• The submission cycle
• The fiscal event
• The legislative cycle
• General election (Purdah)
16. Staying current on research priorities
• DWP’s Secretary of State is keen on research –
especially long-term trialling
• For example, in long-term impact of approaches
to helping people with mental health issues into
work
• A fuller list of DWP research priorities will be
coming out shortly – we are staying in touch
Rt. Hon. David Gauke, PC
Cabinet Office are keen for all departments to
publish their research needs
17. Social Security Advisory Committee
• Statutory body
• Must be consulted on new regulations
• DWP must respond
• Also write reports on topical subjects
• Diverse membership
• Chairman has ear of Ministers
• Worth getting known by them
Paul Gray, CB. Chairman, SSAC
18. Work and Pensions Committee
• There is a Commons Select
Committee for each
government department,
examining three aspects:
spending, policies and
administration
• Undertakes several inquiries
each year; useful to submit
evidence
• Chairman is Frank Field.
Members reflect make-up of
House of Commons
• Can be influential though also
adversarial
19. Policy in Practice looked at
187,475 real families across
17 local authorities
We modelled the impact of
all welfare reforms
The combined impact of
welfare cuts will leave "just
about managing families”
worse off by over £2,500 a
year by 2020
The impact on low-income families
Source: The Guardian, 22 November 2016
20. The need for anti-poverty strategies
Policy in Practice analysed the impact
of the two child limit to tax credits.
From April, a third child born to low
income families will miss out on up to
£2,780 of tax credit support a year.
This change will affect 8,000 children
born in April and one million children
by 2020.
See policyinpractice.co.uk/blog
Source: The Guardian, 3 April 2017
21. Evidence to Scottish Parliament on two
child limit for tax credits
Source: BBC News, 25 May 2017
23. Patience and tenacity
• Don’t see a cold shoulder as a final rejection – it might simply mean you should wait
for the right moment
• Hunt in packs – if your organisation is small or not well-known, you might find it
difficult to get traction. Getting together with like-minded organisations can solve
this
• Make and use personal contacts
24. In summary
1. Be clear about your objectives
2. Be sensitive about timing
3. Be prepared to hunt in packs
4. Be persistent but patient
5. Be prepared to make and use personal
contacts
26. Next steps
Download our ‘How to Influence Central Government’ handout
Short survey:
• We value your feedback
• Ask questions or clarifications
Next webinar:
• Helping people transition onto Universal Credit
• Wed 6 September, 10:30
• Guest speakers: Housing association and local authority client