Welfare Reform Team Evaluation of European Social Fund pilot project 2014-2015

Mel and Ian agreed to follow both of these options. As part of our ESF project, we referred
Ian to Aspire for help getting a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card. Mel
agreed to apply for DLA for her son. We also referred them to Oxford CAB for help with Ian’s
former tenancy debts, which meant that they could not transfer to a larger home.
We then agreed to give them a DHP to cover the benefit cap.
Mel missed three CAB appointments because of summer childcare problems, but she
confirmed to us that she had applied for DLA. We agreed that we could reschedule her CAB
appointment for after the school holidays as long as Ian went to Aspire regularly.
On Ian’s first Aspire placement day, Mel rang us to say that she had been awarded DLA for
her son. We told her to give us a copy of the DLA decision letter as this would exempt the
family from the benefit cap altogether.
Our proactive intervention and Mel’s quick DLA application meant that the family were
benefit capped for less than a month. Unfortunately for Mel, her relationship with Ian
ended and he left the property after being arrested for domestic violence. While she still
needs a bigger home, she is £80 a week better off than when the benefit cap was applied
and housing benefit covers all her rent again.
Following the award of DLA for Mel’s son, we closed her case. However, we have left open
the offer of help with any debt, benefit or work-related issue if she needs this in future.
Debbie
While the ESF project ran for 14 months and focused on helping private tenants into work,
we helped a number of customers who came into the project long after it had finished, and
with a wide range of issues other than work-related ones.
We first met Debbie in June 2014, shortly after she applied for a DHP, and signed her up for
the ESF project. Debbie worked part time despite some health problems, and she also
suffered from panic attacks. To boost her income and be able to afford her rent shortfall
herself, Debbie agreed to speak to her employer about getting more hours.
She also agreed that we could refer her to the job club for help finding other work that
would give her more hours. To help her to do this, she also wanted support to improve her
CV and to write better job applications.
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