Description of the programme:
Moneyworks, launched in September 2014, was a council and DWP-funded project providing advice and education to Brighton and Hove residents. It was designed to support financially excluded and hard to reach groups by joining up existing services to provide caseworker support. The partnership was led by the Brighton & Hove Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), working with Money Advice Plus, St Luke’s Advice Service, Possability People and Brighton Housing Trust, as well as the Community Education Hubs including The Bridge, Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project, Hangleton & Knoll Project and the Whitehawk Inn. Toynbee Hall provided strategic support and training. As multiple outputs could be recorded for each client it is unclear how many people participated in partnership activities.
The study:
Toynbee Hall was commissioned to assess the Moneyworks partnership. The evaluation objectives were to review client/service data and demonstrate the qualitative impact of the project. The evaluation also reviewed the impact measures of the programme and advised on additional goals and/or improvements.
The study used a mixed-method approach, including:
- An in-depth review of existing data and referral processes;
- Interviews (individually or in small groups). 14 interviewees were consulted in total, including partnership representatives. Clients were consulted through two drop-in sessions;
- Observations of client drop-in sessions.
The report made recommendations for developing the service and to inform future funding bids.
Outcomes measured
The project included the following financial inclusion indicators:
- Managing Money
- Increasing income
- Saving money
Key findings:
- Overall the Moneyworks partnership was working effectively in line with its original aims.
- Although broadly on track the project experienced challenges in achieving its targets, which were to conduct 100 referral cases or carry out 86 outreach sessions, or a combination of the two. During the evaluation period, 81 referral cases were open, and 16 outreach cases. Much of the shortfall was attributed to “no shows”.
Project reach:
The project reached a good mix of local residents:
- Over half of clients were 35 to 60 years old. Whilst most were ‘White British’, the second largest group was ‘White Other’ followed by ‘Black British’. Approximately two thirds of clients were women and a third had a long term health condition or disability, (29% of this latter group reported having a mental health condition).
- A third of clients were social tenants, and one-in-five lived in the private rented sector.
- 59% of clients were unemployed, 19% were in work and 15% were retired.
- 13% of clients had no qualifications.
- One-in-three clients struggled to pay for fuel and food. Concerns about welfare benefits were mostly about entitlement. Clients’ debt concerns tended to be about which repayments to prioritise. However, a quarter (24%) sought advice about negotiating with creditors.
- Almost all inquirers were referred for casework support; one in four were referred for Moneyworks casework, and the others referred to alternative provision.
- 92% of clients had a transactional bank account.
Client outcomes were positive:
- Based solely on increases to weekly income, on average each client was better off by £1,587 per year.
- One off lump sums, e.g. grants and backdated benefits = £6,599.
- Debts written off or managed by a payment plan = £144,777.
The study also made a series of recommendations:
- Moneyworks partner agencies and the East Sussex Credit Union should review the credit union’s role in the partnership at a strategic level, and share learning about their customer base.
- Increase the involvement of food interventions in future partnership planning activities.
- Document the time taken and lost due to ‘Did Not Attends’ (DNAs).
- Assess the need for the partnership to have a shared database.
- Establish a working relationship with other agencies, including housing and the criminal justice system (including youth justice services), to share performance outcomes.
Points to consider:
Methodological limitations:
- The evaluation notes that casework support brought about emotional and psychological benefits (as well as financial improvements) but these were not systematically measured.
- Variation was noted in the recording of information and learning by different agencies, which may have affected the robustness of the analysis.
Relevance:
- Findings may be of interest to other multi-agency partnerships working in the money management field, given the positive outputs reported.
