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Cambridgeshire County Council was a referral partner for Household Support Fund (HSF) and additional 15 hours per week of free childcare, supporting families to apply through its Family Information Service.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was a data provider for the project to identify households that are eligible for unclaimed welfare benefits, both those it administers, such as Pension Credit, and those that are locally administered, such as the Household Support Fund administered by Cambridgeshire County Council.Hope Against Poverty CIC is a voluntary and community sector referral partner that supported referred residents to apply for various welfare benefits throughout this project, particularly Pension Credit and Healthy Start.Disability Huntingdonshire (DISH) is a voluntary and community sector partner that delivered support services to which residents in at-risk priority cohorts were signposted.Cambridge Water was involved as a referral partner to which residents eligible for reduced price tariffs were referred, once their eligibility for this benefit had been established.
Families unable to buy healthy food for young childrenPoor educational attainmentLong term poor health outcomes for childrenFamilies claiming ‘Healthy Start’ cardsDigital Exclusion leading to Financial ExclusionFinancial distress caused by disabilitySuffering poor health over the winterResidents attending a Community Hub for supportResidents accessing digital inclusion workshopsResidents claiming Pension CreditResidents claiming Attendance AllowanceHouseholds claiming household support fundResidents receiving an electric blanketSingle adults with one or more childrenSingle people with no childrenIncreased household incomeReduced household expenditurePrivate rented sector tenancy sustainedFinancial distress due to increases in the cost of livingDebt due to water rates arrears
Universal Credit
Council Tax ReductionHousing BenefitDiscretionary Housing PaymentsCouncil Tax AccountsCouncil TenanciesHousing BenefitHousehold Support FundHealthy Start voucher schemeLocal electric blanket scheme
Welfare Reform Act 2012, and the Social Security (Information Sharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) regulations 2012, as amended.
Housing Act 1996
Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
Deciding whether to award a Discretionary Housing Payment
Providing local welfare benefits and other financial support (e.g. helping people move to lower water tariffs)
Offering support to those claimants affected by the benefit cap and the under-occupation charge
Determining eligibility for assistance under the Healthy Start scheme
Preventing homelessness
Social Security Administration Act 1992
The Education Act 1996
The Education Act 2005
Welfare Reform Act 2012
Children and Families Act 2014Assessing eligibility for Free School Meals
Support provided directly by SCDC personnelReferrals to partner organisations responsible for delivering statutory support servicesSignposting to third party organisations who were able to provide discretionary support servicesfresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetablesfresh, dried, and tinned pulsesplain liquid cow’s milkinfant formula milk based on cow’s milk
Healthy Start vitamins – these support a parent during pregnancy and breastfeedingVitamin drops for babies and young children – these are suitable from birth to 4 years old
Digital inclusion workshopsSupport to apply to DWP for Pension Credit where this was unclaimedSupport to apply to DWP for Attendance Allowance, where this was potentially unclaimedSupport to apply for the Household Support Fund that is administered by Cambridgeshire County CouncilSupport to apply for an electric blanket from SCDC as a discretionary benefit in kindSignposting to Disability Huntingtonshire, and other local VCSE sector organisations, for additional support, e.g. with applying for Attendance Allowance.Single adults with one or more childrenSingle people with no children
81 additional families took up the offer of Free School MealsThe additional finding provided to schools in the first year as a direct result of these new claims was £116,555, which is a measure of the value of these claims to the 81 familiesThe estimated lifetime value of the additional funding to the schools, should the 81 families continue to claim free school meals until their children complete Year-11, is £1,020,560.
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Addressing Poverty in South Cambridgeshire District Council
Introduction
This is a learning example of financial wellbeing work carried out by South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) and supported by Policy in Practice that was enabled by intelligent use of data to prioritise households for welfare income maximisation support with some additional services aimed at improving household finances from November 2024, and is currently ongoing. This learning example sets out what SCDC did and why, who was involved, how they used data and technology and what they achieved.
The project was borne out of the ‘cost-of-living project’, initiated in March 2023, of which one aspect was to investigate how the Council could utilise existing data in better ways to target support to those in need. A proposal to purchase the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) software supplied by Policy in Practice, with some additional staff resource, was approved by the Council in April 2024.
This work was funded on an initial two-year basis until June 2026. Between November 2024 and June 2025 the LIFT platform had been used to provide insight into the needs of approximately 6,500 low-income households in the district.
This case study has been collated in dialogue with South Cambridgeshire District Council, the lead organisation, and Policy in Practice, suppliers of the LIFT software.
Project Participants
SCDC was the lead organisation for this project and worked directly with vulnerable residents to provide advice and support on claiming welfare benefits to increase household income and other benefits in kind, as well as accessing other forms of support to improve personal finances.
Policy in Practice supplied the LIFT software to South Cambridgeshire District Council and worked closely with SCDC to implement the project to make best use of the software. LIFT is an intelligent analytics platform for local authorities to link data, maximise residents' income, identify people who are financially vulnerable, target relevant support and track the impact of interventions to improve them. Policy in Practice was a data processor in the project as personal data controlled by SCDC was hosted within LIFT and is working with over 100 local authorities in this capacity.
Other voluntary and community sector organisations were indirectly involved in the project to the extent that residents whose needs had been established via a situation assessment.
The Vulnerability Being Addressed
The vulnerabilities that the project was set up to address were:
Older people at risk of poverty
Children at risk of poor health and education outcomes because of poverty
Older people at risk over the winter
People at risk of homelessness
People experiencing worklessness because of disability
Older people at risk of loneliness and isolation
The council’s use of LIFT and the priorities for addressing vulnerability were developed via a statistical analysis of the combined DWP and internal datasets. The council defined the above vulnerability cohorts that it knew the LIFT tool could reliably find and where there was an intervention able to address the vulnerability. Once defined, these priority cohorts were agreed by the Council’s Cabinet.
Remit to Address Poverty
Section 72 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 gives a remit to this work as an implied power to address poverty, including child poverty, where it states in relation to information shared by the Secretary of State (DWP) with “a local authority (within the meaning of the Administration Act)” (subsection (2)(c)) for “any purpose, to whom or for which that other information could be supplied or used” (subsection (5)(b)), which includes “social security, child support or war pensions” (subsection (6)(a)).
Local Rationale
South Cambridgeshire is a district that surrounds, but does not include, the city of Cambridge with approximately 100 villages and a few towns. The local geography makes it difficult to run geographic campaigns for welfare benefits uptake and to engage with vulnerable residents through community events.
Because of this geography, SCDC does not have the resources to establish a presence through which to engage with vulnerable people in every local community. Additional challenges because of this geography are that people on low incomes can easily become isolated and cannot attend events in other localities.
Loneliness and isolation are significant because of the district’s rurality and ageing population. Also, there are hidden pockets of deprivation throughout the district which a geographic analysis (e.g. using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation by Lower Super Output Area - LSOA) will not find. There is likely to be at least one household in every village on a low income.
For the reasons above, residents on low incomes are at increased risk of not claiming welfare benefits (financial and in kind) for which they are eligible and can be subject to increased costs of living. Because of this distinctive geography across the district, SCDC chose to reuse personal data to find vulnerable people regardless of where they lived in the district.
Alignment with SCDC’s Strategic Priorities
Strategic Priority
How the project helps aligns to these
Healthy and Supported Communities
Supporting older residents has boosted their incomes and reduced health inequalities, allowing them to live independently for longer
Being Green to Our Core
Finding those who are eligible for retrofit grant funding will likely increase uptake and reduce domestic emissions.
Helping Businesses to Thrive in South Cambridgeshire
Finding and supporting low-income residents will likely benefit local businesses and the local economy through increased expenditure. The WorkWell project aims to support residents with long-term health conditions who want to find work to do so, with the potential to benefit the local economy through increased employment opportunities for local people.
Financially Secure and Fit for the Future
Finding and supporting low-income residents more effectively has the potential to increase collection rates of Council Tax and rent, and reduce arrears for those who are unable to pay.
There are no rows in this table
Activities Undertaken
The main activities were to use a combination of data sources to develop cohorts of financially vulnerable residents who were prioritised for outward communications campaigns that aimed to increase uptake of a range of welfare benefits and other relevant support services.
Personal data was reused to find households at risk of different types of financial vulnerability, without the data subjects’ consent. Households that were in ‘at risk’ groups, were contacted to offer an assessment to understand their needs in relation to personal household finances, for example if they needed support with welfare benefit claims, or other forms of financial support.
Residents were initially contacted by letter, which was followed up one week later with an email sent using Gov Notify, and three weeks later with a phone call. Where residents did not answer the phone, a message was left for them and one further attempt was made to contact them by phone. On the final day of each campaign, the council used Gov Notify to send a SMS message to any residents who had not been in contact, to provide information about how they could take up the offer of support.
Some residents were supported directly by SCDC staff, for example with advice and support to claim welfare benefits such as Attendance Allowance and Pension Credit. In other cases, residents were referred to third party organisations for specialist support. Where residents were referred to third parties to meet their needs, consent was gained from residents to make these referrals and share their personal details to those service providers. Residents who accepted the offer of assessment and support, were also signposted to a range of other services operated by voluntary, community and social enterprise sector service providers operating in South Cambridgeshire.
Outcomes Framework
A number of cohorts were agreed as priority groups for the project to support. The table below sets out, for each of these cohorts, the poor outcomes SCDC sought to avoid for each, and the specific outcomes the project aimed to deliver.
Project
Cohort
Poor outcomes to be avoided
Outcomes to be achieved
Healthy Start
Families with young children aged below 4 years and claiming benefits
Older people
Households with 70+ year old residents
Homelessness
Residents in private rented accommodation on low incomes, including:
Homelessness caused by eviction due to rent arrears
Reduced water tariff
Households on incomes of less than £21k/year, not including the Housing Element of Universal Credit or any disability benefits, with additional allowances for dependent children
Households accessing Cambridge Water reduced tariff
Disability worklessness
People experiencing worklessness because of disability
Long term worklessness
Disabled residents starting work
There are no rows in this table
Data and Technology
Technology use
LIFT - Low Income Family Tracker - is data analytics software provided by Policy In Practice designed to help find vulnerable people. The software ingests local data from a range of sources and uses attributes present within these sources, among other functions, to develop a risk profile for households on unclaimed welfare benefits, and benefits in kind.
Data processing is completed within Policy In Practice’s secure data environment and analytical outputs are displayed within a web portal and exported to organisations using the software for further processing and action, such as matching and combination with data containing other risk factors and contacting at-risk households. The screenshot below shows the LIFT software displaying summarised results for vulnerable households by ward across South Cambridgeshire.
The main analytical output from LIFT that the project used, was lists of residents who were likely to be eligible for different welfare benefits, enabling SCDC combine these outputs with data to identify households eligible for unclaimed benefits. The platform can then run personalised communications campaigns specifically to these groups. This was far more efficient and effective than whole-district communications or geographic campaigns.
Councils wishing to find out more about LIFT can contact Policy in Practice using:
Data Sources
The risk models used for the analysis to find vulnerable households combined DWP data about households’ claim status for benefits such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit with data about locally administered welfare benefits and support so that their eligibility for unclaimed locally and nationally administered benefits could be established.
Data processing was completed initially in LIFT and then further processing was done to refine lists of households eligible for unclaimed welfare benefits. Service users’ contact details and personal identifiers such as National Insurance Number were used for matching purposes. Contact details, such as telephone numbers were reused for the purpose of outbound communications for welfare rights campaigns.
The risk factors in the table below were included in the model to find financially vulnerable households and the respective data sources combined in the LIFT software to produce a risk index, i.e. a list of households in specific risk categories or vulnerability cohorts.
Risk Factor
Definition
Information Types
claim for Universal Credit
A household has made a claim for Universal Credit which is currently in payment.
claim for Housing Benefit
A household has made a claim, to a Local Authority, for Housing Benefit, which is currently in payment.
claim for Discretionary Housing Payment
A household has made a claim, to a Local Authority, for a Discretionary Housing Payment which is currently in payment.
in arrears for Council Tax
A household’s council tax account is currently in arrears.
in arrears for Social Housing rent
A household’s social housing rent account is currently in arrears.
overpayments of Housing Benefit
A household’s Housing Benefit account currently has unpaid overpayments
There are no rows in this table
The outputs of the LIFT product were used to contact residents who were eligible for the following benefits:
The project did not have access to administrative data on these welfare benefits so the outbound communications encouraged residents to claim these benefits if they had not already submitted a claim.
As of April 2025, 6,532 households in South Cambridgeshire had been identified as being in these cohorts, representing just under 10% of all households in the district. Once a resident had been identified as having claimed one of these benefits, the Council was able to access further data and information on their circumstances from the DWP, which was used to prioritise them for additional support
Data Privacy
Policy in Practice provides advice to local authorities using the LIFT software to identify legal options to reuse data and worked with SCDC to help them determine the legality of the project’s data reuse. In seeking to reuse data that had been collected for specific purposes, for the new purpose of welfare benefits income maximisation for residents to address different forms of poverty, SCDC assessed the original purposes and the new purpose to be not compatible with each other, and that they needed to rely on legal gateways that allowed them to reuse the data for the new purpose, within the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulations for the UK (UK GDPR).
SCDC decided that the work to address financial hardship among its electors was a public task, as defined in Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR, which was the lawful basis for processing personal data, for which it had powers and duties through three key pieces of legislation, listed in the table below. Working with Policy in Practice, SCDC identified and agreed internally that this legislation also provides legal gateways, enabling the benefits data to be used for the purposes set out in the table below:
Legislation
Duties and Powers
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Local authorities may want external expertise, of the kind provided by SAVVI or Policy in Practice, to help agree internally how DWP data can be reused to address vulnerability.
SCDC also worked with its partner Cambridgeshire County Council to share and reuse data to find households who were eligible for free school meals but not receiving these. As the provision of free school meals to eligible households is the remit of the county council, the partners worked together to establish the legislation and duty for this initiative:
Legislation
Duties and Powers
There are no rows in this table
The lawful basis for data processing was determined as a legal obligation defined in Article 6(1)© of the UK GDPR. As a District Council, SCDC has no direct legal obligation to do this as it is a County Council function, hence Cambridgeshire County Council being the lead organisation for this part of the project. As SCDC has access to benefits data that Cambridgeshire County Council does not have access to, SCDC is a data supplier to the County Council.
Policy in Practice supported the partners to identify a legal gateway in the relevant legislation that allows SCDC to reuse personal data from its original purposes for the purpose of administering free school meals and share the data with the county council. Cambridgeshire County Council matched the data supplied by SCDC against internal records on those receiving free school meals and contacted those who were eligible and not claiming.
At the time of reuse, SCDC was the sole data controller for all the information types reused and processed via the LIFT software. However, some of the personally identifiable data had originated from DWP and had been shared with SCDC by DWP for specific purposes. This original data share was governed by a national Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between DWP and all local authorities that receive this data.
SCDC worked with DWP to develop a data reuse agreement to allow SCDC to upload DWP-originated data into LIFT for the new purpose of welfare benefits income maximisation, which is outside the processing activities allowed by the MoU. Legal gateways in the legislation listed above were the basis for SCDC’s data reuse agreement with DWP, as part of which, SCDC conducted a data protection impact assessment (DPIA).
SCDC is now involved in DWPs ILoV programme (Identifying Local Vulnerability) that is working to identify the data that Local Authorities would like to have access to in their work to identify people with various vulnerabilities, and to propose a new way of sharing data that is more reusable and responsive to changing requirements. However, this project and the DWP data reuse agreement pre-dates SCDC’s ILoV involvement.
Data Ethics and Public Opinion
In deciding to reuse data without the consent of data subjects, SCDC considered this to be a reasonable expectation of those who would be affected by this processing of data and wanted to confirm that this was the case. In making follow up calls to increase benefit uptake, the response of those residents about the reuse of data to find people who may need financial support has been overwhelmingly positive.
No data subjects or members of the public have raised any concerns about SCDC’s use of data in this way and many residents have commented positively about the council’s decision to reuse data to find and support vulnerable people. As a result, SCDC is assured that it is within residents’ reasonable expectations for them to reuse data without consent to find and support vulnerable people.
Services Offered
All vulnerable cohorts were offered either:
Cohorts were offered the following services:
Cohort
Services provided
Families with young children aged below 4 years and claiming benefits
Eligible families were advised to apply for the NHS Healthy Start scheme, through which they could be offered a ‘Healthy Start’ card that can be used in most UK supermarkets, similar to a debit card. The cards were pre-loaded with £8.50 a week for children aged under one, and £4.25 a week for children aged between one and four years old.
Households that required support to apply online were referred to Hope Against Poverty CIC who completed the application with them.
The cards could be used to buy:
The card could also be used to collect:
Families were referred to Cambridgeshire County Council to apply for the Household Support Fund which provides a one-off financial award of £110 per household.
Households with 70+ year old residents
Older residents were offered attendance at a Community Hub funded by SCDC for support, which included:
Residents in private rented accommodation on low incomes, including:
Vulnerable households were offered advice and support on earnings, welfare benefits and household expenditure, with the aim of them being able to maximise their earnings from work whilst protecting their welfare benefit income.
Vulnerable households with children were referred to Cambridgeshire County Council to ensure they were receiving Free School Meals and to apply for the Household Support Fund which provides holiday vouchers of £15 per child per week and a financial award of £110 per household.
Households on incomes of less than £21k/year, not including Universal Credit or disability benefit
Vulnerable households were referred to Cambridge Water to apply for Assure Tariff - a reduced water tariff for people on low incomes by an average of 40% over three years.
People experiencing worklessness because of disability
Residents were supported by a SCDC work coach to help them to gain employment.
Residents were signposted to Disability Huntingtonshire, and other local VCSE sector organisations, for additional support, e.g. with applying for disability welfare benefits.
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Outcomes and Achievements
On 9th December 2025, the project supported a resident with the one thousandth successful claim since the project started using the LIFT software to find and support vulnerable people. At this point in time, the programme was recorded to have delivered approximately £514,000 of additional income per year for families, with a projected lifetime value from this income gain of £3,905,778 based on average claim lengths ().
The table below shows the process outcomes from campaigns up to the end of June 2025.
Cohort
Households identified
Eligible households (all of whom were contacted)
Households who claimed additional benefits
Older people at risk of poverty
287 - pension credit, of whom:
183 - Pension Credit Guarantee
104 - Pension Credit - Savings Element
235 (82%)
113 (39%) - Pension Credit
97 (34%) - Household Support Fund
Children at risk of poor health and education outcomes because of poverty
377 - eligible for NHS ‘Healthy Start Scheme’ and Household Support Fund
Unknown
65 (17%) Healthy Start Scheme
143 (38%) Household Support Fund
Older people at risk over the winter
85 - Electric Blanket
Of whom
6 - Attendance Allowance
51 - Electric Blanket
5 - Attendance Allowance
34 (40%) - Electric Blanket
2 (2.4%) - Attendance Allowance
People at risk of homelessness
16 - private rented with low income
1 (6.3%)
N/A
Possible income gain:
£2,258 per year
Possible estimated lifetime value:
£27,094
People experiencing worklessness because of disability
158 - eligible for a work coach
N/A
5 (3.2%)
Total
A minimum of 246*
There are no rows in this table
*It was not possible to accurately monitor the total number of households who claimed additional welfare benefits as some were advised to claim and did so independently and did not provide feedback to the project. At least 246 households were known to have claimed additional welfare benefits but there were 940 additional claims as part of SCDC’s LIFT Programme in June 2025.
In addition to the above outcomes. The LIFT software from Policy in Practice was used to find 1,196 households that were eligible for Free School Meals. When Cambridgeshire County Council matched this data to its own records, households that were eligible and not claiming were contacted and encouraged to apply by both the county council and SCDC. As a result:
More details are in a press release published by SCDC, here: Council campaign secures free school meals for more families and a BBC news article, here: Financial help take-up rises after council campaign
By December 2025, the following claims and financial outcomes had been supported through the project:
Welfare Benefit
Number of claims
Year one income gain
Lifetime value income gain**
Pension Credit
113
£300,169.23
£3,202,893.01
Winter Fuel Payment
113
£25,800.00
£25,800.00
Healthy Start
65
£21,429.20
£42,858.40
Income Maximisation
2
£11,819.04
£99,870.89
Free childcare
13
£44,904.60
£44,904.60
Attendance Allowance
4
£21,065.20
£65,938.34
Household Support Fund
540
£59,400.00
£59,400.00
Reduced Water Tariff
69
£16,642.80
£49,928.40
Free School Meals
81
£12,844.00
£314,184.00
Total
1,000
£514,074.07
£3,905,777.64
There are no rows in this table
*Lifetime benefits have been calculated using the method published here by SCDC: – Financial Calculation Methodology
South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Communities, Cllr Henry Batchelor, explained:
“Too often, people miss out on the support they’re entitled to - not because they don’t need it, but because the system doesn’t see them, and they are just not aware there’s help available. That’s where this innovative example of how we are using data comes in. This work helps us find the gaps, those who are not aware, and the people who are falling through the cracks. When we use data with a clear purpose like this, we turn insight into real-life benefits for households across South Cambridgeshire. We make sure benefits don’t just exist – but they reach the people they were designed for. It’s an innovative way that we can create healthy and supported communities as part of a fairer, kinder and greener South Cambridgeshire. For every £1 that we are investing into this initiative – we are generating about £36 for residents which is an exceptional return.”
Policy in Practice Feedback
When asked about SCDC’s achievements, Deven Ghelani, Director and Founder, Policy in Practice said:
"South Cambridgeshire has shown what is possible when councils take a proactive, data led approach. Each of the 1,000 successful benefit claims secured in just 12 months represents support for someone who was struggling when they shouldn’t have been. South Cambridgeshire’s success sets a gold standard for councils across the country and we are proud that LIFT has played a part in making it happen, delivering support worth over £514,000 to residents in the first year alone, and nearly £4 million over the lifetime of these awards. This money will help people keep warm, stay independent and feel more secure this winter. Local authorities are uniquely placed to reach people through targeted outreach and earlier intervention are helping residents receive support they may never have known about.”
Resident Feedback
A 69-year-old resident, started receiving over £100 a week in Pension Credit thanks to being contacted as part of a campaign. He said:
“It’s made a tremendous difference to my life. Before, things were tight – I barely had enough to cover my rent each month which meant there was never enough money to buy all the other things you need. Getting Pension Credit has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. I can afford the basics now without living in fear of the next bill. I can afford to buy more food, and I don’t have to worry about putting the heating on. I’ve never been someone to ask for help, and honestly, if the council hadn’t reached out, I don’t think I ever would’ve applied. It’s made a world of difference.”
A 74 year old resident and her 78 year old partner claimed Pension Credit as a result of a campaign. She said:
“When I thought I was going to lose the Winter Fuel Payment, I was really disappointed. I didn’t realise I might be eligible for Pension Credit until the council got in touch and that gave me the push to apply. It’s helped us out no end. It’s meant we can eat better and keep on top of the bills. And it’s not just the Pension Credit - we’ve also been able to get a free TV licence, and thankfully we still qualified for the Winter Fuel Payment too. It’s taken some of the pressure off, and I’m really grateful for that.”
Following SCDC’s joint campaign with Cambridgeshire County Council to increase uptake of free school meals, a young parent, who claimed free school meals for their children, said:
“It really will make all the difference. I’ve been going without things to try and pay for their meals. I’ve gone without things like clothing and haircuts - basic things most people don’t think twice about - because there just wasn’t enough money that month. It’s not just the school meals, although these are absolutely massive - it helps with everything. I had to tell my son that he couldn’t do geography because I couldn’t afford the school trip that went with it. My kids have always come first, and I’m so grateful that they’ll be able to eat well without me having to make those sacrifices.”
Known Issues
A low response was expected from the campaign to support disabled people to find work through work coaches because reasons for disability were not in the data going into LIFT, because while LIFT could identify that they were in receipt of health and / or disability related benefits, the nature or severity of their illness was not known, so it was anticipated that there would be a higher proportion of ‘false positives’ in the target cohort developed.
Improving the Risk Model
The risk model to find older people eligible for Pension Credit, contained false negatives as it did not have up to date savings information, i.e. some households who were previously ineligible for the benefit because their level of savings was over the threshold and run these down to below the threshold so were now eligible. Efforts were made to improve the quality of this risk factor to reduce the number of false negatives in the analytical output from the risk model, and because campaigns were re-run annually.
Next Steps
Several projects are planned to start by July 2026, including:
Increasing uptake of retrofit grant funding
Within LIFT, it is possible to overlay Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data with the benefits a household claims to identify households that may be eligible for retrofit grant funding under the Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme.
PIP take up
There is an option within LIFT to see households claiming Limited Capacity for Work Related Activity (LCWRA), and not claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP). LCWRA is the element of Universal Credit that means the claimant does not have to find work due to a disability or health condition. This means that, as the claimant has already gone through an assessment to determine their disability or health condition is severe enough that they are not able to work, they are also likely eligible for PIP. Households claiming LCWRA and not PIP will be contacted and offered appointments with a voluntary sector organisation to complete a PIP application and connect to further support.
Data insight release
Anonymised data produced using LIFT has been used in the development of ward profiles and to support multi-agency events around ‘Ageing Well’. The next phase of this insight work is to make anonymised datasets available for public consumption, e.g. by way of poverty reports on South Cambridgeshire.
Repeat campaigns
SCDC plans to repeat some of the contact activity over time, to identify additional households.
Public Sources
SCDC website article:
Press article about SCDC’s use of LIFT to find people in need:
Cambridgeshire County Council’s Household Support Fund:
South Cambridgeshire District Council press release on the use of data to increase uptake of free school meals:
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