Freedom of information request
Case reference FOI2026/00904
Received 19 August 2026
Published 15 September 2026
Request
Response
1. Total amount paid each year to third-party providers of benefit take up, benefit entitlement analytics, low income data tracking or income maximisation services.
a. This includes, but is not limited to: Policy in Practice (including the Low Income Family Tracker / "LIFT" dashboard and the Better Off Calculator), Entitledto, IncomeMax, Inbest, Lightning Reach, and Turn2us calculator licensing.
Oxford City Council has licensed the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) from Policy in Practice since November 2025.
2. For each provider please provide:
a) The name of the provider and the product
Policy in Practice – Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT).
b) The start date of the contract and the end date
November 2025 to present.
3. Specify which providers provide services for PIP, ERA and LCWRA.
Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work elements can be targeted using data held in the LIFT dashboard. However, the types of campaigns possible go beyond these benefits and the impact reaches more widely than the value of money in people’s pockets.
4. Provide the council's most recent recorded figures for additional benefit income secured for residents claiming PIP, ERA and LCWRA. (Sometimes recorded as "financial gains", "income generated", "income maximised" or "additional benefits secured")
Oxford City Council has not specifically targeted the benefits listed in this request.
5. Total number of households that secured additional benefit income for residents each year.
In 2026, Oxford City Council ran a Pension Credit campaign. To date, there have been 27 successful applications, yielding £121,858 in annual support and £1,636,700 in lifetime claim value.
b) How many additional households did the additional benefit income for PIP, ERA and LCWRA secured go to?
a) If possible, provide a breakdown of households based on which benefit they received after the third party benefit take up
Pension Credit.
6. Does the council fund a welfare rights, benefits advice or income-maximisation service? (in-house or commissioned, including grants to Citizens Advice or other advice agencies)
Yes.
If yes, please provide:
the current number of full-time-equivalent staff
The Council does not hold this information. Staffing levels are held by the individual advice centres.
The council’s expenditure on the service
£513,461 in funding to deliver services to residents of Oxford.
7. The total number of residents contacted by letter, text, phone or door knocking in proactive benefit take-up campaigns. Meaning the council initiated contact by or on behalf of the council with residents identified as potentially eligible for benefits they were not claiming
Please provide council estimates if the exact number is not recorded
Estimated 800 letters and 350 leaflets.
Provide the benefits that residents were targeted to sign up to
Pension Credit, childcare costs and Free School Meals. The Council has also undertaken other targeted campaigns around opportunities to maximise income and provide cost-of-living support which were not specifically benefit take-up campaigns.
8. Total number of social security appeals (including mandatory reconsiderations and First-tier Tribunal cases) in which the council's welfare rights service, or a council-funded service, provided casework or representation in each financial year.
Provide the number of successful and rejected cases
The Council does not hold these figures. Cases involving welfare rights representation are not recorded separately and therefore cannot be identified from the Council’s records.
9. A copy of the most recent annual report or performance report of the welfare rights/income-maximisation service, if one exists.
The Council’s Grant Allocations to Community & Voluntary Organisations 2025/26 report, which includes information relating to Council-funded advice services and their performance, is available here:
Grant Allocations to Community & Voluntary Organisations 2025/26
Documents
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