Article
Council leads the way in targeted benefits campaign which is getting results for residents
30 September 2024
Pensioners across Neath Port Talbot have received almost £250,000 in extra benefits after being told they were eligible for pension credit.
The success is part of a targeted benefits campaign being run by Neath Port Talbot Council in conjunction with social policy software and analytics company, Policy in Practice.
Financial support for the scheme is coming from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.
Neath Port Talbot Council is the only council in Wales currently taking the targeted benefits approach. Its campaign has been running since the beginning of this year.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has announced that only pensioners in receipt of pension credit or another means-tested benefit will receive the formerly universal Winter Fuel Payments.
Cllr Simon Knoyle, Neath Port Talbot Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Social Justice, said: “We and our partners Policy in Practice believe this targeted approach is much more effective at increasing benefit take up than campaigns which urge people to check whether they are eligible themselves.
“This has been a good start for us but it is only the start – we plan to look for many more people living in the county borough who are eligible for benefits.”
UK Government figures suggest that in Wales alone around £117m worth of Pension Credit money is left unclaimed each year.
But in Neath Port Talbot between January and August this year, dozens of households have gained a total of £232,326 in annual Pension Credit income as well as being eligible for Winer Fuel Payments totalling more than £14,000.
The Neath Port Talbot campaign has been making use of Policy in Practice’s Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT)
The Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) is a tool administered by Policy in Practice and uses data in what the company calls ‘a policy modelling engine’. Some claimants are being identified as carers and this extra annual income may now support them to continue to care for longer.
Useful links:
- 01639 685225 or e-mail welfarerights@npt.gov.uk (for Neath Port Talbot residents only)
- Pension Credit: How to claim - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Pension credit advice | Age UK