How we supported Walsall Council in improving their Council Tax recovery process

Overview

Walsall Council have become the second local authority to utilise ReachOut, an award-winning service provided by Sigma Connected.

The Council recognised that the Council Tax recovery process wasn’t prompting engagement from their most vulnerable residents. Without sufficient resource to proactively engage residents in conversation on scale, those in need were missing out on vital support from the council and incurring additional fees when their debts escalated to enforcement.

This changed with support from Ascendant Solutions’ Pathway service, which allowed for effective segmentation of residents, together with the use of ReachOut’s pro-active early engagement service.

This strategic approach enabled Walsall to identify and effectively engage their more vulnerable residents, ensuring they received the necessary support and avoiding additional penalties associated with the enforcement of debt.

The collective efforts of Walsall Council, Ascendant Solutions and ReachOut lead to positive engagement with 35% of residents, increasing uptake of council support and a reduction in debt. It’s clear that engagement strategies like ours can have a positive impact on communities, helping to address complex issues and improve the quality of life for residents.

In the first month alone Walsall Council saw a total reduction in debt of £97,000, following ReachOut’s engagement with residents – 43% higher than the amount recovered through Walsall’s existing recoveries process/engagement strategy.

There are clear financial benefits that can be realised when councils take an alternative approach to engagement with residents, especially with those in financial hardship.

The challenge

Walsall Council have a fantastic team available to help their residents in financial hardship. But without meaningful and positive engagement, it’s difficult for Walsall Council to raise awareness of the support they can provide and to help those who need it most. This leads to without the essential help available to them at the end of the phone. One resident told ReachOut how she felt like she was drowning, with her life a constant battle, not day to day but hour to hour.

To tackle this barrier to engagement and to provide long-term help to those most in need, Walsall Council made use of Sigma Connected’s ReachOut engagement service together with Ascendant Solutions’ Pathway data solution.

Pathway brings to together multiple data sets on financial vulnerability, which enabled Walsall to identify and target their most vulnerable residents, mainly those struggling with multiple priority debts, and those registered with the Vulnerability Registration Service.

Having used Ascendant’s data analytics to identify Wallsall’s most vulnerable residents, the ReachOut service was then used to proactively engage these residents on the Council’s behalf.

“Knowledge is the catalyst for connection. By analysing detailed financial data to better understand resident’s financial circumstances, we’ve been able to identify which of Walsall’s residents should be prioritised for the ReachOut service. This means that resource has been focused on those most in need and residents have been supported in a way that respects their unique circumstances.”

Darren Kelk, Ascendant Solutions Managing Director

The solution

With Walsall residents identified through Ascendant Solutions, ReachOut then utilised a two week contact strategy to call residents with the aim of:

Increasing resident engagement earlier in CT recovery process
Understanding individual circumstances/identify where extra help is needed
Sharing tailored information, helping residents access grants, advice and support from specialist charities
Raising awareness of Walsall Council support and forbearance
Helping residents to resolve their debt with Walsall Council directly
Avoiding further recovery action/fees

The results

Together, by the end of our two-week strategy we had achieved:

Overall positive engagement with 35% of residents (where we had a contact number)
21% of residents warm-transferred directly to Walsall’s team
41% positive engagement with residents without a liability order (pre-court)
29% positive engagement with residents with a liability order in place (post-court)
A £97k reduction in bad debt within the first month alone
525 referrals to third party support, with 180 residents guided to 32 different charities, inc. The Trussell Trust, Turn2us, Citizens Advice
Residents independently contacting the council following ReachOut’s communications
Insight on residents who didn’t engage
Reduced recovery action

Through the use of both Ascendant Solutions’ Pathway and Sigma Connected’s ReachOut services, Walsall Council have been able to help residents manage their outstanding debt and access the support available to them. They’ve also been able to respond to the more immediate and severe cases when flagged by the team at ReachOut.

The programme has clearly demonstrated the benefits of taking an alternative approach to the existing recoveries process. Data gathered through our calling has highlighted the value of engaging with residents proactively before the need for court action, which only adds to the financial pressures placed on residents.

We’ll have more data to share on the success of the pilot as well as long term outcomes for residents in the coming months, so make sure to revisit the website soon or get in touch.

“ For whatever reason we know a lot of our residents don’t have the confidence to speak with us directly. ReachOut have had those essential conversations with some of our most vulnerable residents. Through ReachOut we’ve been able to intervene and support more households, people who otherwise would have gone without. ”

Mark Fearn, Customer Engagement Lead, Walsall Council

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