Low-income families save hundreds through council scheme

Wandsworth Council has helped hundreds of households across the borough, ensuring they receive support from vital services and financial assistance. 

The Council’s proactive use of the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) helped 168 households move onto water social tariffs, saving them a combined £43,960 per year. Building on this success, Wandsworth has now established an agreement with Thames Water, enabling the auto-enrolment of eligible residents - resulting in a further 1,048 households accessing water social tariffs, delivering a combined annual saving of £452,736. 

Angela Ireland, Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “It’s great to see the benefit the LIFT tool provides through campaigns such as Pension Credit, Free School meals and Attendance Allowance.” 

“As a council, we believe in consistent sound financial management, and LIFT helps us do exactly that. Taking data and building a picture of households in need and their potential entitlements, making hundreds of pounds of savings for residents.” 

LIFT is data analytics software which helps local authorities identify households who are eligible for but not currently claiming different types of benefits.  

We are then able to reach out to these households and help them to claim what they're entitled to. 

The LIFT tool has helped eligible residents in the Borough access funding including: 

• 416 households now receive Pension Credit, with an estimated £17.3 million lifetime saving. 
• 125 residents have claimed Attendance Allowance, expected to save £3.7 million over their lifetimes. 
• 646 pupils have been enrolled in Free School Meals through an opt-out scheme, saving families £159,687 annually and generating an additional £1.01 million per year in Pupil Premium funding for schools. 
• 136 households have been supported to apply for Healthy Start vouchers, with a projected £35,235 lifetime saving. 
• 1,079 residents have enrolled in the Access for All scheme