Citizens Advice's 'East of England Financial Capability and Inclusion Project'

1. Description of the programme
2. The study
3. Key findings
4. What are the costs?
5. Points to consider

Description of the programme

This programme was a financial education programme delivered through a series of topic-led sessions to front-line workers from 128 organisations and beneficiaries receiving services from those organisations.

It provided financial capability training to 930 beneficiaries and 580 front-line workers, that aimed to support financial inclusion, by improving:

• Financial awareness,
• Financial behaviours.

Front-line workers came from a range of organisations and support groups working with social housing tenants, parents & families, unemployed people, people with disability/health problems, offenders & ex-offenders, ethnic minorities, credit union members and women's groups and refugees.

The study

One independent evaluation of the programme, conducted by Rocket Science UK Ltd, has been published. This study involved post-training feedback forms completed by 378 front-line workers and 610 beneficiaries; focus groups with front-line workers at the end of the programme; and two post surveys completed by 108 beneficiaries and 21 front-line workers some weeks after the training (note the small sample size for the front-line worker survey). The evaluation was supplemented by Citizens Advice monitoring and claims data.

An economic impact analysis was also conducted, which included the construction of a Logic Model and a Return on Investment calculation.

Key findings

The evaluation (which involved two post-programme surveys amongst front-line workers and beneficiaries) found positive impacts in relation to the following outcomes:

Amongst beneficiaries

• Financial wellbeing: Reported benefits included reduced stress (70%) and improved health (25%).
• Financial behaviour: The follow-up survey found that 60% of participants had created a budget, 10% had talked to a credit union and 16% had sought debt advice. 47% said the topic of budgeting had most impact.
• Financial capability (Mindset): There was a moderate rise in self-reported general confidence and confidence managing money recorded from the immediate post training feedback forms. Also at this stage, 45% of participants planned to make a budget, 20% say they would talk to a credit union and 15% said they would seek debt advice.

Amongst front-line workers

• Financial capability (Mindset): The front-line worker feedback forms found increased knowledge about financial capability issues and almost all (96%) said they felt more confident referring clients for help with money issues.

A return on investment (ROI) calculation was also undertaken which estimated that, for every £1 that was spent on the programme, it generated £4.50 of social value. Note that the authors imply that the ROI calculation was based on optimistic assumptions.

What are the costs?

The total cost of the training provided was £257,875.

Points to consider

Front-line workers found it challenging to engage their clients with the financial education programme. They suggested that digital approaches could be used more effectively to engage clients and deliver the training. They found it especially challenging to engage economically inactive people (as opposed to those already engaged with services to support their return to work).

Full report

Full research report