Context
Many people across London continue to be disproportionately affected by the ongoing pressures of the rising cost of living. This is coupled with the lingering impact of Covid-19 and increased energy costs contributing to already challenged household budgets. Yet our research, in partnership with MIME has shown that access to free, good quality, independent social welfare and legal advice can significantly help Londoners at risk of financial hardship.
The Advice in Community Settings (AiCS) grant programme was launched in 2022 by the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority (GLA). Working with 11 community-based advice and support partnership organisations across the capital, from food banks to community hubs, it provided a range of information, advice and guidance to support
people who may be experiencing, or at risk of, financial hardship. Partnerships included a wide range of advice organisations working in specialist areas from welfare benefits and debt advice to family support, housing, immigration, and asylum issues. The programme has been seen to build networks across these advice settings to ensure that advice seekers are able to gain the right advice easily and quickly.
In its second year, the Mayor of London and GLA have recently confirmed a third year of funding for this programme. This will enable the programme to grow its reach and strengthen its partnerships, building on its Year 2 delivery to support more Londoners in need.
Approach
Working in collaboration with MIME and the GLA Financial Hardship team, we developed a framework to capture and understand the impacts of the AiCS programme. In Year 1, we worked closely with the 11 funded partnerships to monitor the impacts that these programme interventions have had on the lives of people accessing the range of services available. In Year 2, the scope of the programme grew, extending partnership offerings on a range of community-based support including advice. This extended to a wider range of community centres from schools, to food banks as well as family resource centres and community hubs.
Our approach went beyond typical data collection from participants and stakeholders. Many people using these services are typically from marginalised and underrepresented groups, often accessing advice for the first time. Taking a mixed-method approach, we captured quantitative metrics combined with qualitative insights on the ways this programme has helped and supported individuals, families and communities across London. This combined approach provides a compelling account of the many far-reaching impacts this programme has enabled.
The AiCS programme also looked to develop a network to share learning and best practices across the 11 community-based advice and support organisations. In Year 1 we facilitated workshops to help embed the emerging findings from across these partnerships. In Year 2 the focus was on strengthening the network of organisations. Our evaluation has noted that this led to better sharing of resources, which in turn provides more effective and timely support for advice seekers.
Impact
The Year 2 evaluation has demonstrated the individual and collective impact of the AiCS programme. It has built a body of evidence and a deeper understanding of the wider societal benefits of providing timely advice to support people facing hardship. The evaluation has also provided an evidence base for the cost-benefit of investing in early advice interventions that are based in the community. It has demonstrated the success of the delivery model in reaching individuals and households who have not previously accessed advice services before, with over three-fifths (61%) being new advice seekers.
Our work provided a set of recommendations for the GLA, advice commissioners, and other relevant stakeholders on how best to approach future investment in, and activity involving, community-based advice interventions in the future. It advocates the development of a pan-London Advice strategy and identifies the valuable and important opportunities this could present for funders to actively support the wider availability of community-based advice services.
This has led to the Mayor of London confirming a third year of funding. This support will continue to deliver advice and support to beneficiaries. The scope of delivery has been further broadened by identifying further community settings across London that can provide community-based advice. The evaluation findings are being used to aid the selection of these locations as well as the rationale for future funding by other organisations, trusts and foundations beyond the timescale currently set by the GLA.
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