Simpler applications, faster support: how South Tyneside Council is removing barriers to financial help

South Tyneside Council supports residents through a range of services including welfare support, debt advice, discretionary housing payments and crisis support schemes.

When the council brought its Welfare Support Team back in-house, leaders wanted to take a more joined-up approach to supporting residents. Teams were often helping the same people, but information sat across different services and staff spent significant time manually gathering evidence, chasing documents and signposting residents to support.

The council partnered with Lightning Reach to simplify access to support for residents while reducing administration for staff.

Faster decisions and more complete applications

One of the biggest improvements has been the speed at which support can now be delivered.

Before Lightning Reach, residents applying for crisis support often had to obtain bank statements, send evidence separately and respond to multiple follow-up requests before a decision could be made.

Now, Open Banking (which enables individuals to give view-only access to their online statements) and a more intuitive application process mean staff receive much more complete applications from the outset. The result is dramatically faster decision-making.

South Tyneside has issued crisis support in as little as 20 minutes from application to decision. Previously, even the quickest applications took at least half a day, while many took several days due to missing information.

Digital voucher delivery has also removed a major barrier for residents in crisis. Instead of travelling to council offices within working hours to collect physical vouchers, residents can now receive support directly to their inbox.

Surprising levels of Open Banking adoption

The team expected some residents to be reluctant to use Open Banking. Given South Tyneside's demographics and historically high levels of cash usage, they anticipated around 40% uptake would be a success. Instead, adoption has significantly exceeded expectations.

As Sarah Lee, Welfare Support Team Leader, explains: 

“We've been shocked by how many people are using Open Banking - looking at our stats, it’s used in about 68% of applications. Beforehand, we thought if 40% of people were willing to do that, we'd be happy!”

For staff, this has eliminated the need to chase paper bank statements and review large numbers of screenshots. For residents, it means accessing support much faster.

Challenging assumptions about vulnerable customers

One of the most valuable lessons from the partnership has been challenging perceptions about what vulnerable residents can do online. 

South Tyneside has seen an 86% self-service rate, demonstrating that many residents are willing and able to complete applications themselves when services are designed to be simple and intuitive. This has allowed specialist staff to focus their time where it adds the most value.

As Sarah explains:

“With the majority of residents self-serving to support, we're now able to spend more time helping people with more complicated debts or submitting benefit applications which the residents can’t do for themselves. It’s a much more efficient use of our specialist resource.”

Helping residents access wider support

The council also wanted to move beyond providing short-term financial assistance and help residents address the root causes of financial hardship.

By integrating Lightning Reach into its application process, residents are now being connected to wider support including debt advice, benefits checks and budgeting assistance. This has been particularly valuable for applicants seeking help with housing costs.

As Victoria Hubbard, Support Manager for Revenues, Customer Service and Financial Support, explains:

“While the Council has limited Discretionary Housing Payment funds available for financial support, our priority is to help residents move out of the circumstances that prevent them from meeting their housing costs. This requires a more sustainable approach - ensuring individuals can access appropriate debt advice, maximise their household income, and develop effective budgeting skills. Lightning Reach provides a platform to support this, connecting residents quickly with the right financial assistance and guidance to improve their long-term stability.”

Today, 79% of residents applying to council schemes are also accessing additional support through Lightning Reach.

Delivering measurable impact

Since launching the partnership, more than 1,500 residents have signed up to Lightning Reach. The platform has helped residents secure over £108,000 in support, while identifying that residents are eligible for £99,000 in monthly benefits. Housing support, food and essentials, furniture and household appliances are among the most commonly accessed forms of support.

By combining faster application processing, higher self-service rates and better access to wider support, South Tyneside Council is helping more residents get the help they need while enabling specialist teams to focus on the cases that need them most.

Join us

Interested in how your organisation can collaborate with Lightning Reach? Get in touch at partnerships@lightningreach.org