Lincoln Anti-Poverty Action Plan 2015/16-2016/17
James Wilkinson
Anti-Poverty Programme Lead
City of Lincoln Council
Lincoln
Against Poverty
@lincolnvpoverty
www.lincolnagainstpoverty.co.uk
Actions in the Lincoln Anti-Poverty Action Plan 2015/16 – 2016/17
Lincoln
Against Poverty
@lincolnvpoverty
www.lincolnagainstpoverty.co.uk
Objective: Helping people maximise their income
Programme: Increasing money management skills and confidence
Project: Pilot a letter amnesty in St. Giles
• Concern raised at LAPC 2015 that some
residents struggled to cope under a mountain
of debt letters
• Good practice was identified where an existing
Debt Letter Amnesty had been run by a partner
in Birchwood
• Recommendation by delegates at LAPC 2015
to trial this elsewhere
Lincoln
Against Poverty
@lincolnvpoverty
www.lincolnagainstpoverty.co.uk
Objective: Making the move into work easier
Programme: Moving people into training
Project: Delivering 600 training courses to people who may struggle to afford the fees
• COLC Revenues and Benefit Team
identified a need
• Some residents were not entitled to certain
free education courses because their
income was too high, but they struggled to
pay for the fees themselves
• COLC bid for funding to provide 600
educational courses to people who were
not automatically passported to free
courses
• These are now being delivered by Lincoln
College
Lincoln
Against Poverty
@lincolnvpoverty
www.lincolnagainstpoverty.co.uk
Objective: Helping people maximise their income
Programme: More help when the household budget runs out
Project: Council Tax Discount Scheme existing support continued for 2015/16
• From April 2013 funding for the national Council Tax Benefit scheme was
reduced for working age people
• Councils had to decide whether to pass on this reduction in funding to work
age residents, or to maintain the support by finding a way to meet this
shortfall
• Since then, City of Lincoln Council has
maintained the discount for working age
residents
• Overall:
• 9,726 Lincoln residents (of all ages)
benefit from the Lincoln Council Tax
Discount Scheme
• It puts £7.5m into the hands of Lincoln
residents
Lincoln
Against Poverty
@lincolnvpoverty
www.lincolnagainstpoverty.co.uk
Objective: Breaking the link between poor health and poverty
Programme: Helping those facing poverty due to illness
Project: Helping Hand Summer Campaign 2015
• The strong link between poor health and poverty
was raised by delegates at LAPC 2015
• The need for signposting information to advice
agencies was raised
• The Summer Helping Hand Campaign was
launched and ran from July to September 2015
• Supported by all 16 GP Surgeries in the city,
along with Lloyds Pharmacy and Lincolnshire
Co-operative Pharmacies, the campaign
distributed:
• More than 7,500 posters, leaflets and advice
cards distributed
Lincoln
Against Poverty
@lincolnvpoverty
www.lincolnagainstpoverty.co.uk
Objective: Helping people maximise their income
Programme: Increasing money management skills and confidence
Project: Helping Hand Christmas Campaign 2015
• LAPC 2015 delegates noted the
importance of ensuring families with
dependent children received signposting
materials
• In response, the Helping Hand Christmas
Campaign was launched.
• It had a citywide reach, but there was a
particular focus on distributing via schools
• 22 different organisations supported
the campaign
• 800 posters were distributed
• 1,600 advice cards were distributed
• 6,000 leaflets were distributed
Lincoln
Against Poverty
Est. 1,800
families /
2,500
children
reached
@lincolnvpoverty
www.lincolnagainstpoverty.co.uk
Objective: Breaking the link between poor health and poverty
Programme: Helping to stop poverty making people ill
Project: Promote food banks to allotment tenants
• Partners highlighted the issue of food
poverty in the city, and queried
whether or not excess food could be
diverted to those experiencing food
hunger
• 820 allotment tenants contacted
Lincoln
Against Poverty
@lincolnvpoverty
www.lincolnagainstpoverty.co.uk
Objective: Helping with the cost of raising a child
Programme: Supporting families to feed and clothe their children
Project: School uniform pop-up shops
• From an idea at LAPC 2015 to create a way to distribute second hand school
uniforms without stigmatising
• The first school uniform pop-up shop has taken place at Monks Abbey Primary
School with a number of families benefiting
• Two more are being planned at
Hartsholme Academy and St. Giles
Academy
• Discussions are also taking place
with two more schools in the city
Lincoln
Against Poverty
@lincolnvpoverty
www.lincolnagainstpoverty.co.uk
Objective: Helping people maximise their income
Programme: Increase income
Project: Making Lincoln Living Wage Campaign
Paying £8.25 an hour ensures a basic
standard of living for your staff
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