Projects & Partnerships 2 August 2023
Cost of living case study - GLA support extends help to thousands
Our partnership with GLA (Greater London Authority) has enabled the London Citizens Advice network to extend help to many thousands of Londoners impacted by the ongoing cost of living crisis in the capital.
It is now a year since we were able to announce a new strategic partnership with the GLA to extend much needed advice support across London. The London Cost of Living Project (COLP) has brought together London Citizens Advice and other London Advice organisations (Centres of Excellence supported by London Legal Support Trust - LLST) in a dynamic partnership, building capacity across London's advice sector and extending outreach by working with community groups. Our ongoing partnership with LLST is laying the foundations for strong advice partnerships and networks at pan-London, sub-regional, and borough levels, and a strategic framework for collaborative working.
Following a "mobilisation period" we are now three quarters into the project year for service delivery. The cost-of-living support provided under the project by local Citizens Advice in London includes information, advice assessments, generalist advice, specialist advice and ongoing casework. The Citizens Advice role in the project also includes an Advice First Aid (AFA) training programme to build capacity in local organisations/communities.
To the end of June this year, the additional information, advice and casework has directly supported over 11,000 Londoners dealing with over 30,000 advice issues. That support has enabled aggregate income gains (including benefit gains and debt write-offs) of over £3.6m for Londoners supported by the project.
The project is currently being evaluated, and we should be able to share an initial interim evaluation support shortly. Ongoing monitoring is built into the project to review how well we are able to meet the project in reaching those Londoners who often vulnerable and most in need of advice (eg, from migrant communities) but may not seek advice support through traditional routes.
However, the dry data often doesn't capture what this has support has really meant for so many London Citizens Advice clients, and numbers alone do not tell us the whole story. Behind every enquiry and encounter there is a human problem, and each client is different with individual stories, experiences and challenges.
We are therefore sharing the following case studies from across the project. With all case studies below the names and some details have been changed to preserve confidentiality.