South Norfolk and Broadland Council optimises discretionary support allocation and debt recovery through data analysis

Challenge

At the close of 2022, English councils faced a staggering £1.6 billion in outstanding Council Tax payments. In response to this challenge, and to help residents meet their obligations, an additional £100 million was allocated to English councils through the 2023 Council Tax Support fund.

South Norfolk and Broadland Council used their grant to reduce council tax liability by £25 for over 12,000 households. Once done, they still had some money left over and wanted to continue helping families.

The council looked to its housing register and council tax teams to identify families in arrears but could only identify households already known to the council. They were missing residents at risk of financial crisis who had not already asked for support.

The rules for allocating discretionary support meant the council had to proactively identify households at risk.

Solution

South Norfolk and Broadland used Policy in Practice’s LIFT platform to identify households with high vulnerability and low affordability for their debts. The council knew that proactively engaging with vulnerable residents early helps prevent future financial crises and avoid costs to the council down the line.

Armed with this information an officer phoned families about the one off support.

During the calls the officer used the Better Off Calculator, also by Policy in Practice, to identify other benefits and support the household could claim. This helped households to maximise income and minimise the risk of falling into debt once the one off support had gone.

Impact

The campaign is still ongoing. By April 2024, the council had contacted nine families with support to pay back their council tax debts, enabling the council to recover £11,400 in council tax arrears.

An officer tells us how she helped one resident:

Before calling, I completed the Better Off Calculator to help me identify how we could help this customer. We already know that they receive Universal Credit and Carers Allowance. The calculator also identified that the customer could claim a reduction in their water bill, apply for cheaper broadband and mobile packages and help with their energy bill. I then decided that these are the things I want to concentrate on helping the customer receive.