Benefit take up amongst older people

Wyre Borough Council are responsible for working with their partners to improve the lives of local people. The borough's economic welfare is a top concern, particularly when the economy is slowing down and jobs are at risk. Getting benefits to those people who are entitled is essential to support both the people themselves and the local economy.
Benefit take-up work is any activity that encourages people to obtain their full entitlement to financial support. The aim is to increase the number and level of awards of benefits and tax credits, and to maximise claimants’ incomes in order to reduce hardship. It is important not to undermine this overall aim with conflicting messages about the relatively small number of fraudulent claims.

Take-up work isn't a one-off campaign, it is ongoing and it is carried out and supported by a range of people and groups in many ways, integrated into their everyday responsibilities and activities.

Despite these good efforts there are still millions of pounds worth of unclaimed benefits owing to the older residents of Wyre.

Take-up supports the local economy and creates jobs.

In an economic recession, benefit take-up provides both a safety net for the poorest and also helps to put spending power back into the local economy. The LGA has highlighted action on household income as one very good way councils can help local people. In its report “Global slowdown: local solutions” it said that when times are hard, councils need both to kick start the economy and to provide a safety net for people in need.
Benefit take-up puts extra spending power into the area as increased benefit income is usually spent quickly on local goods and services; in particular housing, food, transport and leisure. As incomes increase, people increase their spending on basic utilities including heating, lighting and water and can afford to save for large items such as new bedding, a fridge, a hoover or essential housing repairs. Supporting household income is a good way of creating extra jobs and contributing to regeneration programmes.
The New Economics Foundation carried out a number of pilot studies on ways to keep money circulating in the local economy, especially important at a time of economic strain. Two councils, Newham and Lancashire looked at benefit take-up. They found that “because their target populations were on low incomes, the increased income was spent on additional necessities, most of which were bought in the local area at local stores”. Newham estimated that for every £1 of benefit claimed an extra 78p was generated for the local economy.

A study of the economic impact of the Glasgow City Council Welfare Rights Service estimated that by generating £11 million of extra funding the work of the Unit had created 280 jobs in Scotland in 2002-3.

What are the scale of unclaimed benefits in Wyre?

In 2008 there were 34,100 residents aged 60 and over and based on the 2001 census this is made up of 37% aged 75 and over and 63% aged 60 to 74.
For this projection we will focus on the 12,600 residents aged 75 and above.

A recent analysis has shown that the potential unclaimed benefit for these residents of Wyre could be in excess of £8 million per year.
This is made up of £3 million in Pension Credit, £600,000 in Housing Benefit, £1.24 million in Council Tax Benefit and £3.4 million in Attendance Allowance.
A number of organisations currently work to assist residents in claiming benefits. Locally, these include DWP, WBC, Help Direct, CAB and Age Concern.

Despite their best efforts the scale of unclaimed benefits amongst older people in Wyre remains at £8 million per year.
Some of these organisations signpost ( Help Direct) to the information providers ( DWP, CAB) and there is evidence that while the latter face dwindling resources the former have the potential to access and signpost to an increasing number of residents.
However, access to this particular group of elderly residents, reluctant to claim, requires a more targeted approach.

In the last three years a novel scheme has helped pensioners gain an extra £15 million in pensions and benefits they were entitled to but not claiming.
This has been achieved through a campaign run successfully in cooperation with GP surgeries in Chorley, South Ribble and East Lancashire and thousands of pensioners have benefited as a result.
The campaign builds on the trust we all have in the services provided by GPs and their teams.
The method is very simple, a letter is sent out to all patients aged 75 and over explaining what they may be entitled to with a tear off slip that goes to a team of advisors, not the surgery. The team then contact them by telephone (or by post if they prefer) to check their benefit entitlement. The service is completely confidential and there is no financial cost to the surgery.
With encouragement from the Wyre Senior Forum the Over Wyre Medical Centre has adopted this process and is currently providing a valuable pilot for Wyre.
If the scheme was replicated and resourced with volunteers a programme of similar interventions could encompass the fifteen practices in Wyre. Even with a typical 50% success rate this would yield an annual return of £4 million into the Wyre economy.

What is Happening Now?
The forum are currently exploring how such a programme could be resourced within Wyre.
We are in discussions with the Lancaster and Wyre Welfare Rights team , Wyre CAB, Advice Link and the WBC Benefits Team as to how either could run such a programme with or without volunteers.