Increasing benefits take-up

The problem we’re trying to solve

Many people don’t claim the benefits they’re entitled to. This might be because they aren’t aware of their rights, and/or because the process is unnecessarily complex with lots of barriers.

It’s likely that there are billions of pounds of unclaimed benefits across the city. If we can increase take-up, it will have a dramatic effect on reducing poverty in London.

How change will happen

Change is possible by providing people with the help they need to claim the benefits they’re entitled to. The main way this help is provided is through high quality advice from organisations they trust.

Innovation is another powerful driver of change. This could be through using behavioural insights techniques to encourage people to claim or through data driven campaigns that target people who may not be aware of what they are entitled to. It could also involve work with central or local government to find better ways of designing the social security system.

What we will fund

• Welfare rights advice. Advice that focuses on helping people access the benefits they’re entitled to. By welfare rights advice we mean advice on a wide range of entitlements like Universal Credit, PIP, Tax Credits, Disability Living Allowance and Carers Allowance. Also grants and other forms of local welfare assistance like the Household Support Fund and Council Tax Reductions.

We recognise that some welfare rights advice is delivered as part of a holistic advice service. We’ll fund advice services that aren’t exclusively about welfare rights - but only if the overall focus is on income maximisation for people in poverty.

• Specialist legal advice. Focused on casework and representation for appeals to First Tier and Upper Tribunal.
• Innovations to address the lack of uptake. This might include data-driven campaigns, automation, behavioural insights work or service design work to test new approaches.