MD3402 Family income maximisation advice programme

1.1    This Mayoral Decision (MD) seeks approval to spend £1.893 million from the GLA Mayor budget for 2025-26, for activity to support low-income families with children who need support to ensure that their income meets their everyday needs. 
1.2    It also seeks approval to spend £2.355 million in 2026-27, and £955,000 on this programme in 2027 28, subject to confirmation of funding in the GLA: Mayor budgets for those years.
1.3    Expenditure on this project is part of the overall programme budget for income maximisation/child poverty. Approval will be sought for this overall budget in the Reducing Inequalities delivery plan which will be the subject of a separate MD.
1.4    This MD seeks approval for the specific allocation for this project before the overarching programme MD is approved. This is so that officers can provide information to current advice-delivery partners about anticipated budgets, enabling them to plan the implications for their staff roles. In addition to seeking a two-month extension to existing grant funding agreements, this MD is simultaneously seeking for new grant agreements to be entered into with delivery partners. 
1.5    This proposal is part of a wider income maximisation programme, which includes a range of activity to boost benefit take-up, reduce the costs of essential items and strengthen the local safety net. It complements other GLA initiatives – such as the Economic Inactivity Trailblazer pilots and Universal Free School Meals – that collectively help ensure Londoners’ incomes meet their daily needs.
1.6    This programme also supports the government’s ‘break down barriers to opportunity’ mission, and its Child Poverty Strategy, by tackling the barriers that mean families struggle to afford the essentials. It will enable the Mayor and the GLA to demonstrate a package of improved support for families, throughout pregnancy and early childhood.
1.7    This programme of work builds on both the Advice in Community Settings programme and the Advising Londoners Partnership programme. These have delivered social welfare advice to Londoners since 2021. Expenditure on these programmes was approved by: MD2732; MD2831; MD2869; MD3157; MD3240; MD2991; MD3157; and MD285.
1.8    To date, these advice programmes have supported just under 90,000 Londoners, and generated just under £40 million in additional income, by helping Londoners realise their entitlements and access support.
1.9    Arrangements under both the Advice in Community Settings advice programme and the Advising Londoners Partnership are due to end in October 2025. This presents an opportunity to reshape the GLA’s advice programmes, building on delivery to date, and create a single advice programme that supports the delivery of the ‘reducing inequalities’ mandate (upcoming MD3391). 
1.10    In line with the available budget allocated to income maximisation and child poverty in the Reducing Inequalities delivery plan, it is proposed that future advice provision focuses on improving support for low-income families. 
1.11    It is proposed that the new family income maximisation programme will be funded via strategic grants to identified delivery partners, who are uniquely able to deliver advice at scale across London. There are limited partners with the required relationships and reach to deliver the programme. This necessitates a funding approach via strategic grant funding, rather than open tender. This will be done through new grant agreements. 
1.12    This MD also seeks approval for expenditure of £456,000 from the GLA Mayor budget for 2025-26. This will be used to extend funding for the current advice programme until December 2025, two months after current grant agreements are due to end. 
1.13    The current advice programme was approved by MD3285 and funds London Citizens Advice and London Legal Support Trust to increase the capacity of advice provision across London, to support Londoners on low incomes struggling with the cost of living. 
1.14    It is anticipated that, given their unique ability to oversee the delivery of advice in London at scale, London Citizens Advice and London Legal Support Trust are likely to be among the delivery partners for the new programme.
1.15    The rationale for this short extension of the current programme is to provide more time to identify the delivery partners for the new programme and the resources they require, without a gap in provision. 
1.16    The extension will also allow officers to build in some additional time to work with partners to finalise the programme’s delivery model, and map locations to prioritise allocated resource. 
1.17    The extension of funding levels for the current programme is unlikely to significantly alter the go-live date for the new programme. However, it will lead to a slight reduction in available budget for the new programme in 2025-26. It is anticipated that this will be partially compensated for through the outcomes achieved by extending the current programme.
1.18    This MD also seeks approval for funding to extend three fixed-term posts in the Financial Hardship team, which are required for the delivery of the work approved by this decision, and other projects that contribute to the delivery of the Reducing Inequalities Delivery Plan. These posts – one G10 Principal Policy and Project Officer, and two G8 Senior Policy Officers – are fixed-term posts, which are due to expire in the first half of 2025-26. Approval of funding for the extension of these posts for the duration of the income maximisation project and the wider Reducing Inequalities delivery plan is sought via this MD in order to provide certainty to staff and mitigate the risk of the posts expiring before approval via subsequent decisions is secured.
 

Overarching objective
2.1    The Reducing Inequalities delivery plan sets out the London-level outcome: Londoners’ incomes meet their everyday needs.
2.2    The overarching aim of this programme is to ensure that low-income families with children are supported so that their income meets their everyday needs. 
2.3    This will be met through the following objectives: 
•    supporting low-income families with children to maximise their income by accessing their benefit entitlements
•    supporting low-income families with children to access emergency financial support, when they cannot afford basic essentials
•    supporting low-income families with children to reduce their financial hardship and material deprivation by addressing advice on broader social welfare issues – such as immigration, employment, childcare entitlement and housing.
Delivery method
2.4    It is proposed that the new programme will fund delivery partners, via strategic grants, to deliver a package of advice for families. This includes advice on welfare, debt, housing and childcare; and referrals to employment support. It will be provided in settings where families at risk of falling into financial hardship can be reached.
2.5    We propose awarding funding, via a strategic grant, to chosen delivery partners who are uniquely positioned to deliver the family income maximisation programme, rather than through open competition.
2.6    It is expected that the programme will also train staff and volunteers in community settings to improve referrals into the dedicated family advice service. This will include training the staff and volunteers in the family setting where the advice is located; and training other organisations in the wider network. It will also include funding for translation services, to increase reach to those whose first language is not English.
2.7    As per paragraph 4 of the GLA Contracts and Funding Code, it is proposed that the delivery of the programme will be through grants not contracts (apart from the provision of a learning partner which will be through a contract). This is because the GLA intends to support delivery that aligns with the Mayor’s priorities, but will be the initiative and activity of third-party advice delivery organisation.
2.8    Previous GLA advice programmes have demonstrated that embedding advice in this way helps streamline access to advice, and results in more Londoners claiming their entitlements. Delivering through family settings that have a proven, trusted route to families will help more households access the underclaimed support to which they are entitled.
2.9    Delivery is expected to take place through Family Hub networks across the 16 London local authorities funded by the Department for Education to deliver the Family Hubs programme. Family Hubs are physical spaces and virtual systems aimed at joining up, and enhancing access to, statutory and voluntary services for families. However, the choice of final locations will be based on existing infrastructure, local levels of need, and opportunities to reach low-income families with children.
2.10    The new advice programme will differ from previous GLA-funded programmes by focusing on support for low-income families with children, rather than all Londoners on low incomes. This targeted focus will enable the GLA and partners to design interventions based on families’ needs – and, potentially, to leverage contributions from local and regional partners aimed at securing the best start in life for families. 
2.11    It is anticipated that a learning partner for the programme will be sought to take an action research approach, capturing evidence as the programme develops and feeding this back to the development of the delivery model. A learning partner is proposed to be appointed via an open tender for a contract for services, as per paragraph 4 of the GLA Contracts and Funding Code, rather than a grant. Application of any funding towards this activity will be in line with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code; advice will be sought from TfL Procurement and Commercial.
Expected outcomes
2.12    It is expected that the programme will reach up to approximately 21,000 - 24,000 families, generating an estimated £8.3 million - £10.8 million in financial gains for them within the first year. Estimated reach and financial gains are based on previous performance data for all Londoners, and an assumption that delivery will be lower during an initial mobilisation period.
2.13    This compares to 37,348 clients reached through the Advising Londoners Partnership and Advice in Community Settings programme in 2024-25, and £17 million financial gains, based on a budget of £3.5 million. However, it is recognised that these figures would be subject to a range of variables that are impossible to predict, and in some cases may be impossible to control. These include the ability to retain, recruit and adequately remunerate advisers; the volume and complexity of client caseloads; and the success of community referral routes.
2.14    The new programme’s impact will be captured through the number of low-income families with children reached and financial gains by household. It will also seek to employ qualitative methods to collect wider outcomes for low-income families with children accessing advice through family hubs, such as onward support offers, access to employment support and wider social justice outcomes. 
2.15    During the two-month extension period of the current programme, based on current delivery figures, it is expected that approximately a further 6,000-7,000 individuals (not necessarily families) will be reached, with anticipated financial gains of £2-3 million. 
2.16    It is possible that outcomes for families may be higher, if delivery of the new programme focused on families can be mobilised before the end of the two-month extension period.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the Public Sector Equality Duty – that is, the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.
3.2.    Experiences of financial hardship often interact with other forms of marginalisation, such as disability and racism. This means some groups of Londoners face more barriers to accessing advice and maintaining a claim for support. 
3.3.    Several groups within ‘low-income families with children’ are at higher risk of financial hardship. This is shown in the following examples:
•    families with children make up 40 per cent of all Londoners living in poverty
•    in London, single adults with children are the most likely to be living in poverty, with 47 per cent of this group living in poverty 
•    in London, Black and Minority Ethnic groups are far more likely to be in poverty (38 per cent) than White Londoners (18 per cent) 
•    Bangladeshi Londoners have the highest poverty rate: 62 per cent are counted as being in poverty. This is followed by the “any other Asian background” group, for whom the poverty rate is 47 per cent
•    Londoners who live in families that include a disabled person are more likely to be in poverty than those living in families that do not include a disabled person. In the three years to 2023-24, 31 per cent of families that included a disabled person were in poverty compared to 24 per cent of those without a disabled household member
•    overall, more than eight in ten London children in poverty (84 per cent) live in either the social or private rented sectors
•    a recent report by London Councils suggests there are 90,000 children living in temporary accommodation; this equates to approximately one in every 21 children in London, equivalent to roughly one homeless child in every London classroom.
3.4.    The support offered through the programme will be available to any family with children; or who are pregnant or have recently lost a child or miscarried. However, the programme will be designed to support families with children who are particularly vulnerable to financial hardship, many of whom have protected characteristics. For example: 
•    disabled people are consistently overrepresented among people seeking advice, because of the high proportion of disabled people with low incomes and/or who are unable to work. To ensure we are using insights from disabled people and the organisations that support them when designing services, we will work with DDPOs in the design of the new programme
•    advice funding, particularly of specialist legal advice, will benefit migrant Londoners with no recourse to public funds who require immigration advice or financial support to reduce their financial hardship 
•    by supporting the training of community organisations to make referrals to advice services operating from family settings, will connect Londoners who face barriers to accessing support. This is particularly relevant to Deaf and disabled Londoners; Black and Minority Ethnic Londoners; and migrant Londoners
•    by providing advice through family settings, it will improve the pathway between advice and services that support children with special educational needs and disabilities (which are often based out of Family Hubs and Children’s Centres), promoting access to both services for families with a child with SEND
•    the programme will include the provision of translation services, to help families access advice in their primary language. 
3.5.    GLA officers, working with delivery partners, will use outreach and engagement approaches to build and strengthen partnerships with smaller, grassroots community organisations that directly serve Londoners who face barriers to accessing advice. This will ensure the highest standards of equality, diversity and inclusion are upheld.
3.6.    To date, the GLA’s funded advice programmes have been designed to increase access to advice among Londoners with protected characteristics. This new programme will learn from previous delivery. Up to the end of March 2025, the Advising Londoners Partnership provided Londoners with more than £32.2 million in cumulative income gains. Preliminary demographic data suggests that out of those supported through advice by London Citizens Advice, 70 per cent were from a Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic background.
3.7.    The planned refocusing of the programme will mean ending some current advice provision for Londoners outside the target demographic of families (for example, single adults and older Londoners). Other elements of GLA programming supporting Londoners on low incomes will prioritise support for other demographics – specifically, for older Londoners through data-led benefit take-up activity, encouraging the take-up of Pension Credit and Attendance Allowance.
 

Key risks 
4.1.    Risks and mitigations are outlined in the table below:

Conflicts of interest 
4.2.    There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.
Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.3.    The family income maximisation advice programme is consistent with the Mayor’s commitment to reducing inequalities and ensuring that Londoners’ incomes meet their everyday needs. The following data is relevant to this: 
•    recent data points to over 700,000 London children living in poverty after housing costs (i.e., after their rent or mortgage costs have been deducted from their income) 
•    65 per cent of London constituencies have a child poverty rate of 31 per cent or over
•    there is a high level of inequality in London, with a difference of 38 percentage points between the parliamentary constituencies with the highest child poverty rate (Bethnal Green and Stepney) and the lowest (Richmond Park)
•    in 2023-24, almost half (45 per cent) of children living in London households in poverty are classed as materially deprived (up from 32 per cent in 2022-23) 
•    families made up of a single adult with children are the most likely to be in poverty. In London, 47 per cent of these family types are counted as being in poverty
•    families with children make up more than a third of all Londoners in poverty (40 per cent).
4.4.    This programme helps deliver the commitment to help Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis, by providing essential advice services. 
4.5.    It will also help support the commitment to giving young Londoners opportunities to thrive, by ensuring that parents are aware of available support through childcare entitlements. 
Funding route 
4.6.    This MD seeks approval for the decision to award funding for the new programme, via strategic grants, to chosen organisations who are uniquely positioned to onward-fund a pan-London network of advice providers. 
4.7.    There are limited partners with the required relationships and reach to deliver the advice programme in this way. This necessitates a funding approach via strategic grant funding, rather than open tender.
4.8.    The MD also seeks approval for the Assistant Director, Communities and Social Policy, to identify and award those delivery partners, based on assessment of their ability to deliver the objectives and outcomes set out in this MD.
Subsidy control
4.9.    GLA officers have carried out an analysis of the proposal to extend the ‘Advising Londoners Partnership’ funding against the Statutory Guidance for the UK subsidy control regime.  They have assessed that the subsidy control regime is non-applicable in these circumstances because the proposed financial assistance does not constitute a subsidy.
4.10.    In particular, the proposed financial assistance to London Legal Support Trust and London Citizens Advice fails to satisfy Limb B of the four-limbed test set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022, as neither organisation is classed as an enterprise. They are both charities, and neither of them are engaged in economic activity to offer goods or services on a market. They provide free, charitable support (in the form of expert advice) to low-income Londoners and are entirely dependent on donations or ringfenced grants to fund their operations.
4.11.    This proposal is consistent with the example set out in the Statutory Guidance in paragraph 2.17, on page 26. This example states that “a ringfenced grant to a charity for its non-economic activities (even if the charity also provides some goods or services on the market)” is unlikely to meet the four-limbed test set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022. As such, no further assessment of the proposal against the subsidy control principles is deemed necessary.
 

5.1.    Approval is sought for to spend £2.349 million in 2025-26; £2.355 million in 2026-27; and £955,000 in 2027-28. This expenditure comes from the GLA:Mayor budgets in 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28.

This reflects a portion of the overall programme budget for income maximisation/child poverty. Approval is being sought for this overall budget as part of MD3391: Reducing Inequalities delivery plan.
5.2.    Funding for future financial years will be subject to the annual budget-setting process and is subject to change. Approval to spend £2.355 million in 2026-27 and £955,000 in 2027-28 is assumed to be affordable. This can only be confirmed when the GLA: Mayor budget for each year is formally approved. 
5.3.    Approval is also being sought for additional GLA funding for the extension of three financial hardship posts for the next three years needed to deliver the work approved by this decision, and other projects that contribute to the Reducing Inequalities Delivery Plan. There is currently no approved budget for this, and this would mean additional cost of £566,000 across 2025-26 to 2027-28 as outlined below.

5.4.    The expenditure in paragraphs 5.1 and 5.3 forms part of the overall budget of £8.88 million across 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28, which is being agreed for work to support Londoners on low incomes as part of MD3391. This budget includes programme and staffing.
5.5.    Multi-year grant agreements with delivery partners will include break clauses to reflect the potential for changes to GLA budget arrangements in 2026-27 and 2027-2028.
 

6.1    Under section 30(1) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the GLA Act), the GLA has the power to do anything that it considers will further any one or more of its principal purposes, which are:
•    promoting economic development and wealth creation in Greater London
•    promoting social development in Greater London
•    promoting the improvement of the environment in Greater London 
6.2    In deciding whether or how to exercise the general powers, section 30 (4) requires the GLA to have regard to the effect which the proposed exercise of the power would have on:
•    the health of persons in Greater London
•    health inequalities between persons living in Greater London
•    the achievement of sustainable development in the UK
•    climate change, and the consequences of climate change 
6.3    Under section 38 of the GLA Act, any function exercisable by the Mayor on behalf of the GLA may also be exercised by a member of the GLA’s staff – albeit subject to any conditions that the Mayor sees fit to impose. To this end, the Mayor may delegate the exercise of the GLA’s powers to the Assistant Director, Communities and Social Policy as proposed pursuant to section 38 of the of GLA Act. 
6.4    In taking the decisions requested of him, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty contained in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.5    The Subsidy Control Act 2022 requires that grant funding comply with its subsidy control principles. Officers have made this assessment at paragraphs 4.9 to 4.11 above and have concluded that the proposed funding does not amount to a subsidy.     
6.6    If the Mayor makes the decisions sought officers must ensure: 
(a)    no reliance is placed upon any future years funding until the related budgets are definitively approved and, in any event that the relevant agreements contain termination for convenience rights in favour of the GLA
(b)    that GLA grant-funding agreement(s) with London Citizens Advice and London Legal Support Trust are varied to reflect the proposed extension and award of additional funding before any commitment to provide the additional funding is made
(c)     to the extent that expenditure on the London Stewardship Academy programme concerns: 
i.    the purchase of services, suppliers or works they are procured in liaison with TfL Procurement in accordance with the Contracts and Funding Code and appropriate contract documentation is put in place between and executed by the GLA and contractors before commencement of those services 
ii.    the award of grant funding, such award is made fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equalities requirements and with the requirements of GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and funding agreements are put in place between and executed by the GLA and recipients before any commitment to fund is made
(d)    if applicable all GLA staffing matters are conducted and approvals sought in accordance with the GLA’s HR protocols.
 

7.1.    The project will be delivered according to the following timetable: