Recommendation 17

Although the Department worked with local authorities on some of the schemes aimed at households who were harder to reach,44 the low take–up suggests that this approach did not identify all those in need.45 The Department said that it attempted to use intermediaries such as social landlords, providing funds directly to landlords with a requirement to pass them on to tenants. However, the Department acknowledged that it “did not track the right people,” and there were “places where communication did not work”, adding that “absolutely, there were lessons to learn” in how it can do this.46