The Leeds Poverty Fact Book was developed to be a useful document to share widely across the council and with partners in order to understand the levels of poverty in Leeds; inform policies and assist in the City’s anti-poverty agenda. This resource contains national and locally sourced data and information to help define and analyse the different themes of poverty. Most of the data discussed is at the Leeds district level. Some data is only available at a national level, where this is the case; an estimate for Leeds has been calculated using nationally informed assumptions against the Leeds population figure. The Poverty Fact Book is available as an online resource which includes a glossary of terms and links to all data sources. The Fact Book is updated at regular intervals throughout the year by the Financial Inclusion Team. For any enquiries, please contact financial.inclusion@leeds.gov.uk People in Poverty Children in Poverty In-Work Poverty Wages and Employment Welfare Reform and Universal Credit Food Poverty Fuel Poverty Debt Index of Deprivation Section 1: Relative and Absolute Poverty Section 4: Wages, Household Income and Employment Section 5: Welfare Benefits and Universal Credit Section 9: Index of Multiple Deprivation Abbreviations AHC After Housing Costs APR Annual Percentage Rate APS Annual Population Survey ASHE Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings BBA British Bankers’ Association BHC Before Housing Costs CCJ County Court Judgement CML Council for Mortgage Lenders CPI Consumer Price Index CT Council Tax CTB Council Tax Benefit CTC Child Tax Credit CTS Council Tax Support DHP Discretionary Housing Payment DMP Debt Management Plan DRO Debt Relief Order DWP Department of Work and Pensions ESA Employment Support Allowance FSM Free School Meals HB Housing Benefit HBAI Households below average income HML Headrow Moneyline IB Incapacity Benefit IMD Index of Multiple Deprivation IS Income Support IVA Individual Voluntary Arrangements JSA Jobseekers Allowance LCC Leeds City Council LCU Leeds Credit Union LFS Labour Force Survey LIHC Low Income High Cost LP Lone Parents LSOA Lower Super Output Area ONS Office for National Statistics RPI Retail Price Index SDA Severe Disablement Allowance SOA Super Output Area UC Universal Credit WTC Working Tax Credit Absolute Poverty Absolute low income measures the proportion of individuals who have household incomes 60% below the median average in 2010/11, adjusted for inflation. It is used to look at how changes in income for the lowest income households compare to changes in the cost of living. The year 2010/11 is used in order to measure absolute low income in line with the Child Poverty Act 2010. Absolute poverty falls if individuals with the lowest incomes see their income rise more than inflation. After Housing Costs Income trends over time after deducting housing costs are useful where rents have increased for a given quality of accommodation, otherwise, for example a rise in housing benefit to offset higher rents would be counted as an income rise. Bankruptcy is a form of debt relief available for anyone who is unable to pay the debts they owe. Any assets owned will vest in a trustee in bankruptcy who will sell them and distribute the proceeds to creditors in accordance with the order laid down by statute. Before Housing Costs Income trends over time before deducting housing costs are useful where there has been an increase in housing costs because of better quality housing, and so living standards have improved. Benefit Cap limits the total amount of benefit received by working age people who are not in employment. Council Tax Support is a scheme introduced in 2013/14 for which government provide Local Authorities with a limited sum of money unlike the previous scheme of Council Tax Benefit which was demand led, and expenditure incurred by Local Authorities was reclaimed by them from the government. Debt Relief Order (DRO) is a form of debt relief available to those who owe £15,000 or less and have little by way of assets or income. There is no distribution to creditors, and discharge from debts takes place 12 months after the DRO is granted. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) The DHP scheme provides support to tenants affected by the welfare changes. Individual insolvency procedures include bankruptcy, debt relief orders and individual voluntary arrangements. Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) are a voluntary means of repaying creditors some or all of what they are owed. Key in-work benefits consists of: Carers Allowance (Carers), Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance or Industrial Injuries benefits (Disabled) and Widow’s Benefit, Bereavement Benefit or Industrial Death Benefit (Bereaved) Key out-of-work benefits consist of the groups: Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Incapacity Benefits (IB), lone parents (LP) and others on income related benefits. Others on income related benefits are out-of-work benefits which combine Other Income Support (such as IS Disability Premium) or Pension Credit. Local Welfare Support Scheme The Local Welfare Support scheme provides goods and services rather than cash for those in need, impacted by welfare reform. Median Average Income Median household income divides the population, when ranked by equivalised household income, into two equal-sized groups. Equivalisation adjusts incomes for household size and composition, taking an adult couple with no children as the reference point. For example, the process of equivalisation would adjust the income of a single person upwards, so their income can be compared directly to the standard of living for a couple Relative Poverty Relative low income measures the number and proportion of individuals who have household incomes below 60% of the median average in that year – and is used to look at how changes in income for the lowest income households compare to changes in incomes near the average. The population in relative low income falls if income growth at the lower end of the income distribution outstrips average income growth. Super Output Areas (SOAs) – SOAs were introduced by ONS to facilitate the analysis of statistics at the small area level. LSOAs have a minimum of 1,000 residents and 400 households (but with an average population of 1500). For the IMD 2015, this has resulted in the creation of 482 lower level areas in Leeds (England contains 32,844 LSOAs). Under Occupation Housing Benefit paid to working age tenants who live in council or housing association properties will be reduced where they have more bedrooms than the family needs.
Glossary of Terms