Thames Water Mon 8th April 19
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Thames Water met with Policy in Practice to discuss tackling bad debt, supporting low-income households, and developing social tariffs. Key points discussed included building Thames Water's existing tariffs into a single assessment tool, licensing the tool for advisors to provide holistic support, and working with local authorities to use household data to target support tariffs to the most vulnerable consumers. The meeting aimed to ensure Thames Water meets its commitment to help 200,000 vulnerable people through effective use of data sharing and partnership with local governments.
Thames Water Mon 8th April 19
- 1. Deven Ghelani Policy in Practice Thames Water Meeting April 8th, 2019
- 2. Agenda • Introductions and Objectives • Your approach to tackling bad debt • Initiatives to support low income households • Build your social tariffs into a single assessment tool • License the tool for advisors to enable holistic support • Work with local authorities - use data to target support tariffs to vulnerable consumers most in need • Summary and next steps
- 4. Cambridge councils partnership with South Staffs water. Connected to DHPs: £55k to 210 people Removed the income threshold. Great partnership. Listening to your customers
- 5. Listening to your customers
- 6. At the heart of this plan is a balance between making our service affordable for all, improving the service we deliver by increasing investment, and strengthening our financial resilience. Steve Robertson Watersure • Caps the bill for those on income related benefits or those with a water related medical condition Watersure Plus • Up to 50% off your bill if your waterbill is more than 3% of your net household income and you are in receipt of income related benefits / gross income less than £16,105 (£19,201 in London) or you are 62 or older. Ten of the most deprived boroughs in the UK are in your region Your approach
- 7. 777 Initiatives to support vulnerable households Build your social tariffs into a single assessment tool License the tool for advisors to enable holistic support Work with local authorities - use data to target support tariffs to vulnerable consumers most in need
- 8. A team of professionals with extensive knowledge of the welfare system who are passionate about making social policy work We help local authorities use their household level data to identify vulnerable households, target support and track their interventions We develop engaging software that helps people to increase their income, reduce their costs and helps them to build their financial resilience
- 9. Direct payments to landlord to continue under UC, if transferring from HB End of UClive service DEC2017 No new claims for UClive service after 01/01/18 UCadvances repayment period increases to 12 months UCadvances increases to 100%of UCaward JAN 2018 All claims migrated to UC DEC2023 National Living Wage likely to rise to £8.80 p/hr Housing benefit to 'run-on' for the first 2 weeks of UC Payments for temporary accommodation improved Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) becomes a loan National Living Wage set at £7.83 p/hr for over 25 Personal tax allowance up from £11,500 to £11,850 APRIL 2018 www.policyinpractice.co.uk UNIVERSAL CREDIT ROADMAP Details subject to change Details correct at 20 Feb 2019 FEB2018 7day waiting period for UCabolished 2017 2018 2019 2020 2023 2018 2018 Mixed age couples must make new claims for UC instead of Pension Credit MAY2019 JULY2019 Self-employed familiies moving to UCwon’t be affected by minimum income floor for the first 12 months of their claim. Managed migration pilot will begin (starts in full end 2019) 2019 2019 2019 End of Full Service roll out JAN 2019 New UCclaims for households with 2+ children FEB2019 APRIL2019 NLW will increase to £8.21p/hr for over 25s Personal tax allowance will increase to £12,500 Higher rate tax threshold will increase to £50,000 UCWork Allowances will increase by £1,000/year. 2019 APRIL 2020
- 10. Managed migration was scaled back for 2019, although around 1.6m people will still move onto Universal Credit this year via natural migration. The two-child limit to benefits would not apply to children born before April 2017. Flexible payments, including direct payments to landlords, split payments, and the payment of Universal Credit going to the main carer by default. The Secretary of State is also looking at options to reduce the five-week wait for new claimants, and accelerate childcare payments to providers. The High Court found in favour of four working mothers who challenged how the DWP took account of monthly earnings. New Secretary of State – new direction?
- 11. Use data from customers to make better decisions. Access 10,000 people each day via GOV.UK
- 12. License the tool for advisors so they can give holistic support, improving people’s ability to repay in future
- 13. Work with local authorities: Use their data to target support tariffs to vulnerable people, including those less likely to ask for support
- 14. A new measure of poverty for the UK Takes into account household income, and household needs. What is water poverty? How can you eliminate it by 2030? Water Poverty: A new measure
- 15. Summary • You have ambitious objectives in your 2020 – 2025 business plan, that you can meet through effective use of data. • What objectives would you like to meet through data? • Ensure you meet your commitment to help 200,000 people • Ensure that those 200,000 are those who are most in need • Ensure your tariffs are fairly applied • Re-incorporate LAHA tenants and understand those customers • You can offer them holistic support. Your vulnerability teams can check eligibility and increase take-up of local and national support, making it more likely that your customers will be able to pay their bills. • You can work with local government to pool data and share resources, helping to target your support to the most vulnerable.
- 16. www.policyinpractice.co.uk Thank you Deven Ghelani [email protected] 07863 560677 Oscar Jefferson [email protected] 07444 158921