REAL LIFE REFORM Lisa Pickard & Andy Williams

1. REAL LIFE REFORMLisa Pickard & Andy Williams Welfare Reform Workshop Putting research and knowledge into practice 25 March 2014

2. Leeds Alliance members PARTICIPATING:- Unity Housing- Connect housing

3. RLR – Making a Difference • Real case studies sharing real stories – the human impact of welfare reform • Real life information that will shape organisational policies and strategies • Enables a deeper understanding of the impact on & experience of customers & communities • Northern Perspective & comparison • Evidence for All Party Parliamentary Group, policy shapers & stakeholders • MATERIAL FOR TENANTS & CUSTOMERS TO USE & RESPOND TO

4. 70-100 case study households • Volunteers • Not hand picked by us! • Quarterly research & interviews • Minimum of 6 • Designed questionnaire & methodology • Ethical Statement • Experience & trends • Front line staff trained as research facilitators • NOT a housing survey! • Tracking landlord trends & performance • Separate to case studies

5. Report 1 – September 2013 • Households are surviving on restricted budgets and struggling to get by. • 65% have less than £10 per week to live on following rent and essentials such as food and bills. 37% have nothing left each week. • Households are intending to cut back on spending on food and fuel – 25% spend less than £20 per week on food. • Eight out of ten households are already in debt and 83% of families are worried about getting into more debt. Over half of those in debt doubt when they’ll be able to clear these debts • The average level of debt is £2418. • Families are reporting increases in levels of stress and depression. • 88% of householdsare worried welfare changes will impact their health and wellbeing • Parents report they are going without to protect their children’s health • Parents report worries that bullying may increase • 77% of families report believe the changes will impact on their neighbourhood and there are worries about loan sharks and crime • Many respondents are critical of Job Centre’s efforts to help them find work.

6. Report 2 – December 2013 • Households spending less than £20 per week on food has increased from a quarter to a third of all participants • Case studieshaving no money left each week once bills have been paid has increased from 39% in July [round1] one to 51%. • The average spend on food per person per day has reduced from £3.27 to £2.10 • Households are spending 16% more on gas and electricity at a time when energy prices and usage are increasing. • Debt repayments of more than £40 per week have doubled • The average level of debt per household is £2273 • 33% of respondents now have council tax debt • 84% of new respondents think welfare reform changes will adversely impact on their health and well being • 86% think welfare reform will adversely affect shops and businesses in their neighbourhood – was 68% • Increasing criticism of support provided by Agencies such as Job Centres when people are looking for work

7. Report 3 – March 2014 2013 • borrowed a further £670 since October, averaging an increase in debt of £52 each week. • 77% of households are in debt and the average debt is £3,503, a 54% increase since our last report. (note: the average debt for ‘retained participants’ is £2,943, a rise of 28%) • £34.41 is the average weekly debt repayment, an increase of 58% • 18.5% of income is spent on fuel costs compared to the national average of 5.1%. • 69% of households spend less than £40 per week on food. • Nearly a third of households spend less than £20 per week on food. • Average spend per person per day on food is now £3.08 - up from £2.10 in December. • 46% of participants report have nothing left each week to live on once rent and essentials such as food and bills have been paid. • Use of local shops has halved with less than 5% of participants using them. • 60% of active job-seekers applied for between 20 and 40 jobs in the last three months but 71% were not offered an interview. • 22.2% applied for more than 40 jobs, a 113% increase since report two. • 70% of applicants for Discretionary Housing Payment have been successful. • Participants expressed concern about media representation of people on benefits.

8. Our Impact/Audience • 890 twitter followers and established presence on social media • All Party Parliamentary Group for the North • Extensive coverage in the press and other traditional media • “Supporters” include third sector, Church leaders, research organisations, poverty organisations, MP’s, various Chief Executives and “influential “people • Landlords & authorities across the North • Our customers : social housing customers : people affected by welfare reforms

9. What Next? • Consequences • unintended : what are the links and potential impact • Cumulative • Impact of the research – is the sum bigger than the parts? • Co-ordination • of the research results and their meaning • Communication and influencing • Customer voice • how do we ensure their voice is heard in this debate? • Campaign • can we raise our game on this front? • Considerations • what is working; what isn’t & what could work better or differently?

10. Any Questions @RealLifeReform