Key information
Request reference number: MGLA200323-3058
Date of response:
Summary of request
Your request
- How much funding was allocated to the debt bus recently touring London?
- How many people accessed the bus?
Our response
In total the Cost of Living Advice Bus visited 46 locations in 26 boroughs across 50 days of
delivery. The stops visited were a mix of high-footfall locations (for example, high streets, shopping centres, town squares), medium-footfall locations (for example, libraries, town halls, leisure centres) and targeted low-footfall locations (for example, food banks, community centres, faith settings).
It is estimated that around 32,000 Londoners were engaged in person at the stops themselves, which was less than the upper boundary estimate of reach set out in DD2604.
However, the lower number of Londoners engaged was largely the result of delivery taking place at a mix of stops (rather than exclusively at high-footfall locations) which was necessary to ensure both even geographical spread across the city and that the bus visited locations frequented by the most disadvantaged communities.
Following initial assessment by Debt Free Advice staff and volunteers, over 440 Londoners
went on to receive in-depth, face-to-face debt or benefits advice on the bus, with those
receiving far more likely to be from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds, be women, be single parents, be renters, or be on a pre-payment energy meter. Debt Free Advice report that many of these cases were complex and involved multiple debts, meaning they required multiple advice sessions to resolve (the increasing prevalence of complex advice cases is consistent with the general trend being reported by advice providers across London).
As such, many Londoners first supported on the bus continue to have follow up advice sessions in Debt Free Advice offices, and overall advisor capacity was utilised to help those with the most severe problems to a greater extent (rather than supporting a higher number of people to a lesser extent).
The complexity of the cases seen during this project has resulted in substantial financial gains for those supported. Where cases have concluded and where financial gains were recorded, the average annual financial gain for clients who received debt advice on the bus was just over £4,500.
On average across all Money and Pensions Service funded debt advice services, around
1 in 3 clients that receive debt advice secure an income gain. Based on this, it’s estimated that this project has connected Londoners with advice that has helped them secure in the region of £500,000 in extra annual income.
In addition to the number of Londoners supported in person at bus stops, Debt Free Advice
reported a 65 percent increase in contacts to its service via all channels across the duration of the bus tour (including its debt advice helpline which saw incoming calls increase by 300 to 500 month-on-month throughout the project).
When Debt Free Advice ran a similar advice bus tour in February and March 2022, the total contacts to its service increased by 15 percent across its duration.
The recordings of a series of webinars produced and streamed by Debt Free Advice as
part of the project continue to be promoted to Londoners which will increase the number of
people reached over time.
If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting
reference MGLA200323-3058.