Proactively contacting residents with support

The Council is here to support all Barking and Dagenham residents. Usually, residents get in touch with us when they require support, but not everyone knows when they should speak to the Council or how they should do this. We frequently work with residents that are in difficulties, and we could have helped if they had contacted us earlier. Currently, we are testing a new approach by proactively contacting residents when it looks like they might need support.

What does the new approach look like?

We have previously contacted some residents in debt and at risk of homelessness to support them with challenges they might be facing. Currently, we are reaching out to residents who may be experiencing challenges with frailty and could benefit from extra support with their health and wellbeing. 

Once residents who are eligible for support have been identified, we will reach out to them to offer tailored support. An officer will contact them – first via a physical letter through the post, followed by a text message and a phone call, to discuss any support that the resident might need. This could include support with finances, physical and mental well-being, and more. This is a totally voluntary offer, so residents can decline the offer of support if they wish to do so.

Who will receive support in this new way?

Since we are trying a different approach to delivering services, we will first be testing it on a small scale to see if it is helpful for residents. This will allow us to assess how well the approach works and improve it if required.

With that in mind, we will be proactively contacting only those residents who meet certain criteria for receiving a support call. However, it is important to note that all services offered through our proactive support calls are also accessible to any Barking and Dagenham resident who approaches the Council. Everyone living in the borough can access this support through the LBBD website or by visiting their local Community Hub.

How will the council use data analytics to identify people eligible for a support call?

In order to deliver and improve the services we provide, we use resident data in a range of ways. There are several duties placed on councils to identify and support individuals early, aiming to prevent their needs from worsening (e.g., the Care Act 2014 makes clear that local authorities must provide or arrange services that help prevent people developing need for care and support). In this project, we are bringing together data and analysing it to help us understand if a resident could benefit from Council support. 

To identify people who may need support, we will be using information such as council tax and social housing rent payments, benefits history, and interactions with other council services to help us understand where someone may be experiencing difficulties. 

This information will be analysed on our data analytics platform, which will flag residents who could have a support need. We will contact people from this group. 

You can read more about how the Council processes resident data on our general privacy notice page.