Sections: and indicators
- Volume: Total clients, Total new clients, Total number of contacts by channel
- Demographics: Sex, Age, Ethnicity, Household composition, Family type, Income
- Debt owed: Total debt clients, Total amount owed, Breakdown of amount owed
- Funding: Local Authority funding
- Financial gain: Total welfare benefits financial gain, Total money advice financial gain
For this section, each client supported by the service in 2023/24 should be counted only once, regardless of the number of different cases they present with, or the number of times they present.
-
This is the total individual people supported by the service during the reporting period (the 12 months to 31.03.2024), including those accessing support for the first time and existing clients whose support is ongoing from the previous financial year or who have previously been supported by the service and have used the service again in the reporting year with a new issue.
The number of Total clients should be higher than the number of Total new clients, as Total clients should include the total number of new clients and the total number of existing clients, whose support is ongoing from the previous financial year.
-
A new client is one who has not previously received support from the service and has accessed support for the first time during the reporting period (the 12 months to 31.03.2024).
-
The categories are Email, Face-to-face, Telephone, Web, Webchat, Other, Not recorded.
Only include the channel through which the individual first contacted the service. If repeated contact is made by the same individual, do not count the additional contacts separately.
Email - contact established with the service via the completion of online forms should be included under ‘Email’.
Web - should be measured via the number of unique page views of the service’s website.
Local authorities are asked to provide the total number of clients dealt with during the 2023/24 financial year, broken down into the following categories: sex, age, ethnicity, household composition, family type and income of clients.
The figures provided for this measure should include the total clients supported during the financial year, including those whose support has continued from the previous financial year.
Totals
For each indicator there is a Total requested. This number should be the same under each demographic category and should match with the total number of clients provided in the Volume section of the survey.
If there are figures missing for a demographic category, the missing clients should be included under not recorded or this should be noted in the additional information question at the end of the section.
Alternative categories
A few ‘Alternative category’ options are included. These categories are aggregated versions of some of the sub-categories which, in the past, several services have indicated could not be captured. These aggregated categories were introduced to enable those services who cannot provide a breakdown of the sub-categories to include a total figure, ensuring that the overall demand is captured. This category should only be completed by services who cannot provide a breakdown.
Not recorded and Prefer not to answer
Options for ‘Not recorded’ and ‘Prefer not to answer’ are included.
- ‘Not recorded’ refers to data which is not collected
- ‘Prefer not to answer’ means that the individual does not wish to disclose information
Other category
If recording in the ‘Other’ category please provide descriptions, and numbers for each in the additional information question at the end of each section.
-
Measures are Male, Female, Not recorded, Prefer not to answer, Total.
-
Ranges are 0-15, 16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-59, 60-64, 65-70, 71+ and Not recorded, Prefer not to answer, Alternative category: Age 60+, Total.
You should complete the alternative category only if a breakdown for 60-64, 65-70 and 71+ is not possible.
-
Groups are White, Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups, Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British, African, Caribbean or Black, Other Ethnic Group and Not recorded, Prefer not to answer, Total.
-
Categories are Single adult households, Single pensioner households, Small single parent, households, Large single parent households, Young single parent households, Alternative category - Single parent households, Large family households, Alternative category - Two parent family, households, Adult family households, Older adult family and Other, Not recorded, Prefer not to answer, Total.
These are defined as:
- A single adult household contains one adult (non-pensioner) and no children
- A single pensioner household contains one pensioner and no children
- As small single parent household contains one adult <25 and over?>and one or two dependant children
- A large single parent household contains one adult and three or more dependant children
- A young single parent household contains one adult (under 25) and one or more dependant children
- A family household contains two adults (non-pensioner) and one or two dependant children
- A large family household contains two adults (non-pensioner) and three or more dependant children
- An adult family household contains two or more adults (non-pensioner) and no dependant children
- An older adult family household contains at least one pensioner
- Single Parent households – only complete this if a breakdown for small single parent, large single parent and young single parent is not possible.
- Two Parent Family households - only complete this if a breakdown for family and large family is not possible.
-
Record the number of clients in each of these priority groups affected by child poverty. The groups are Lone-parent families, Households where someone is disabled, Families with three or more children, Minority ethnic families, Families with a child under one year old, Families where the mother is under 25 years of age and Not recorded, Prefer not to answer.
Two of these indicators already form part of the Household composition section and do not need duplicated:
- Lone-parent families will be calculated, combining indicators Small single parent households, Large single parent households and Young single parent households. This is the equivalent of Single parent households.
- Families with three or more children will use the figure for Large family households from Household composition.
-
This is the net annual household income (after taxation and other deductions). This should be recorded for money advice clients only.
Brackets are £6,000 or less, £6,001-£10,000, Alternative category - £10,000 or less, £10,001-£15,000, £15,001-£20,000, £20,001-£25,000, £25,001-£30,000, £30,001-£40,000, Over £40,000 and Not recorded, Prefer not to answer.
For the alternative category, £10,000 or less, only complete this if a breakdown of income below £10,000 is not possible.">
This section asks for the amount, number and type of debts owed by clients during 2023/24.
The figures provided for this measure should include the debts of all clients who made initial contact in the current year and those existing clients whose support is ongoing from the previous year. This should include clients whose cases have been closed within the financial year.
If there are figures missing, this should be noted in the additional information question.
-
This is the total debt owed by clients receiving debt advice. It should include all debts owed by each individual client.
Each individual client should only be recorded once, regardless of the number of debts they present with.
-
The total amount owed by clients in £.
-
Categories are Bank and Building Society overdrafts, Benefit overpayment, Business debts, Catalogue debts, Council Tax arrears, Court fines, Credit, store and charge card debts, DWP, Family/Friends loan, High-cost credit, HMRC (including Income Tax and National Insurance), Legal fees, Maintenance/child support, Mortgage arrears, Penalty Charge Notices, Personal Loan and Total.
-
Categories are Housing Association Rent Arrears, Local Authority Rent Arrears, Private Rent Arrears, Rent-to-Own debts, Student debts, Unpaid bill.
Rent arrears total - only include this if a breakdown by housing association, local authority and private rent arrears is not possible.
-
Categories are Electricity, Gas, Phone/internet/telecom bills, Other.
Utility arrears total - only include this if a breakdown by electricity, gas, phone/internet/telecom bills is not possible.
This section asks about 2023/24 funding for money and welfare rights advice within the service.
Each service should provide the total annual sum of funding the local authority provides for money and welfare rights advice in the service.
-
Figures should include overhead costs (gross salary costs, i.e. including employer’s costs)
-
Services are asked to provide a figure for the total sum of all funding for money and welfare rights advice in the service. This will be used to calculate local authority funding as a proportion of all funding.
This section relates to money advice and welfare benefit gains 2023/24.
Financial gain is verified if the welfare rights advice service had independent evidence of the level of financial gain, such as confirmation or receipt of the gain by the client, or by accessing a client’s records with another organisation. Other verification methods may also be possible, such as checking internal council systems.
-
Welfare rights financial gain is the total amount of income generated for clients per financial year because of the intervention of the welfare rights advice. This includes any income to which clients were entitled but would not have received without the intervention of the welfare rights advice service. This includes financial gains from benefit awards and grants accessed, mandatory reconsiderations won, and appeals won.
Welfare rights financial gain should include the full amount awarded and be assumed for 52 weeks unless the award period for that particular benefit is shorter (such as JSA - 26 weeks). If the gain relates to a one-off amount, such as a grant accessed, then the full amount claimed should be included. Benefit premiums should also be recorded.
-
Money advice financial gain is the total amount of expenditure reduced for the client per financial year because of the intervention of the money advice.
This includes any client expenditure for which the overall liability is reduced, and this amount is no longer to be paid by the client. This includes benefit overpayment revisions, council tax arrears liability reduction, debt written off and rent arrears liability reduction. It should not include any reduction in expenditure where monthly payments have reduced but paid over a longer period to satisfy the same level of expenditure.
The overall reduction in expenditure should be recorded as a lump sum amount as this is the overall amount the client has been saved from paying.