Ambitious transformation programme

In 2017, Southwark council launched a review of its income management processes and found that the biggest issue was inefficient working practices in arrears case management. Officers were struggling to prioritise their caseload consistently between their “patches” which meant residents were experiencing different levels of customer service.

Together with his team, Southwark’s Operations Manager for Income Leo Stanislaus set out an ambition for “patchless” working. This would see the data on arrears cases automatically prompt actions in one of three workstreams – Prevent, Resolve or Recover – each with a dedicated team of flexible officers providing an enhanced and consistent service. The goal was to be more responsive to residents’ circumstances.

Leo explains:

“Sustaining rent payments can be challenging, especially during uncertain times. The benefit of our Prevent, Resolve and Recover model is the ability to prevent and resolve arrears by using analytics to focus on medium and high-risk cases.”

Investing in the right digital tools

Southwark started using analytics products to segment its accounts, first geographically and then into the three different workstreams, and switched to NEC Account Analytics in 2021. This gave them more granular data and the ability to control the parameters that govern how cases are allocated. This move enabled the final part of the transformation in September 2023, as the operational structures and the income officers were all assigned to the new workstreams.

Immediate improvements in resident support

Within three months, the team’s KPIs had improved across the board, including completing 42% more home visits, answering 94% of calls first time and increasing the number of payment arrangements by 22%.

“The benefits for officers were clear.” says Leo. “NEC Account Analytics gave them accurate data, making case prioritising more fluid, freeing up time to complete their prompted actions and making them more responsive to residents’ circumstances.”

Even better results 12 months on

Just over a year after the transformation completed, Southwark’s shift towards prevention saw twice as many people attend their rent ‘surgeries’ to get advice. Case completions and support referrals are both up more than a third, and home visits have increased by a further 8%.

And despite a challenging year for residents’ finances, collection rates are 1% higher than the year before and the proportion of direct debit payments has increased too.

Continued investment in automation

One recent improvement has been the inclusion of automated letter generation within NEC Account Analytics. Revenue Team Leader Russell Robertson explains the benefits:

“Every bit of time we save our officers matters, because it’s time they can spend supporting residents, for example by explaining their eligibility for benefits and maximising incomes in the ‘Recover’ workstream. We’re still working to prevent homelessness by advising residents to apply for variations to court orders if the repayment terms are no longer realistic to their circumstances.”

Southwark’s residents are still facing significant financial challenges. However, Leo believes the income management team’s use of analytics and granular data enables support to be provided in new ways through earlier intervention.