Description of the programme

The Services Against Financial Exclusion programme aimed to promote financial inclusion among individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds through debt support. Debt support goes beyond debt advice (which just addresses the presenting issues) in order to create longer-term outcomes as a result of improved financial capability.

The pilot was established by Tonybee Hall’s SAFE programme and the Island Advice Centre (IAC). The debt support ran from two debt advice centres in Tower Hamlets, London, and involved paid debt support workers.

The programme included the provision of support both before and after the clients’ crisis debt episode through the development of a realistic budget that clients could stick to, the setting up of a repayment plan, potential applications to relevant grant-making bodies to clear a portion or all utility arrears, and follow-up contact with clients via telephone and face-to-face meetings to ensure they were adhering to repayment schedules.

The pilot project ran for 12 months, beginning in 2004/5, and worked with 145 clients.

Specifically, the pilot intended to achieve:

• an increase in the number of clients completing their repayment schedules;
• additional support for debt advice workers who do not have the capacity to ‘chase up’ clients and thus free up time for more clients to be seen; and,
• clients who are better informed and better able to make more appropriate financial decisions in future.

The study

The programme was evaluated by Toynbee Hall and IAC. The study involved survey-led interviews with 30 clients who participated in the programme, and did not use a comparison group.

Key findings

The evaluation (which involved pilot survey-led interviews with 30 participants of the debt support programme) reported positive findings in relation to the following outcomes. Please note the figures quoted below should be treated with caution due to the small sample size.

• • The clients’ total level of debt reduced by 38% over the course of the programme.
  • Almost three quarters (73%) of the clients interviewed stated that they felt that their debt had reduced because of the ongoing support and advice provided as part of the programme.
  • 80% of clients reported having fewer worries as a result of the support they had received.
  • 93% of clients said they were very happy with the support services provided and all (100%) said they would recommend the service to others.
• • The report states that clients had an improved ability to make informed decisions about future access to credit as a result of the ongoing support and financial education provided as part of the programme.
  • The report also refers to an observed improvement in clients’ ability to budget on a weekly or monthly basis. However, these two assertions are not evidenced through any survey data.
• • 77% of clients felt they were confident to deal with creditors again after debt support, although those with more complicated issues stated they may require further support.

Points to consider

• The project involved the use of volunteers to aid delivery.
• The evaluation noted that many of the programme’s clients had limited spoken English (the majority of clients were either of Somali or Bangladeshi descent) and that it would be difficult for them to find similar support elsewhere, highlighting a need for local advice agencies to offer tailored advice to the minority ethnic groups in their locality.
• • Care should be taken in interpreting the findings, since the evaluation employed a small sample size and did not involve a comparison group.

Full report

Full research report