Which department does the pilot fall under within the local authority?

This is a collaborative project led by Camden Council, developed over a nine-month period in close partnership with internal teams and external organisations.

Internal Camden teams:

• Money Advice Camden (MAC) – funding the pilot and providing operational and analytical support
• Strategy Policy and Design (SPD) – service design and project management
• Public Health: Raise Camden – strategic leadership and mission alignment
• Early Years and Children’s Centres and Family Hubs teams – delivering support on the ground

External partners:

• Central North West London (CNWL) Maternity and Health Visiting teams – supporting connection with antenatal data
• Nesta – providing pro bono support on behavioural science, design and evaluation
• UCL and the Institute of Health Equity – contributing to ethical oversight and research expertise

What if I have no budget?

A cash grant may be out of reach without a dedicated budget. However, consider whether you can make the case for even a modest grant. It may be that this is an eligible use of the Department for Work and Pensions’ new Crisis and Resilience Fund, due to launch in April 2026. If effective, interventions to provide additional income to families with children and get families engaged with integrated services may well pay for themselves in terms of reduced fiscal costs in future.

Other elements of the programme could be implemented within existing budgets. For instance, linking data you already have access to, and allocating a portion of existing frontline staff’s time to work as Family Navigators.

What if I don’t have access to pregnancy data, but I want to do something?

Providing a proactive cash grant during pregnancy requires data on who is pregnant (from the NHS), matched with benefits data from the council. Pregnancy is a key period, and providing support during this time, instead of only after birth, is likely to be particularly beneficial for the baby. This is because of epigenetic effects as well as the fact that parents are not yet eligible for Child Benefit or the child element of Universal Credit.

However, the newborn period is also a time of very rapid brain development, during which maternal stress and nutrition can have important impacts on a baby’s development. We know from ‘baby bonus’ programmes in other countries, which are cash transfers paid shortly after birth, that these can improve health and education outcomes for children in low-income families. So, while there’s no evidence yet indicating the relative importance of additional income in these periods, the evidence that does exist suggests that providing the grant to families with newborn babies could be similarly effective as a grant given in pregnancy.

Providing a grant and other support in the newborn period would also be practically easier because councils would be able to use birth registration data they already hold, linked with benefits data, to target a grant or other support to low-income families with newborn babies. Therefore, if NHS data linkage is not an option, linking birth registration with benefits data could be a good alternative that does not require data not already held by the council.

How did you match the data?

In Camden, we worked with Policy in Practice to carry out probabilistic data matching using a combination of the parents’ full name, date of birth and address. This allowed us to match NHS maternity data with council-held benefits data while maintaining privacy and meeting data protection requirements. A Data Protection Impact Assessment and robust data-sharing agreements were key parts of this process.

What are the biggest data access challenges in a nutshell?

Accessing NHS maternity data is likely to be the most time-consuming part of setting up a programme like this. Health data is highly sensitive, so information governance and legal teams need full confidence in how it will be handled. Each partner may understand their own system well, but few will have oversight of the full end-to-end data flow, which can lead to delays, misunderstandings, or duplicated effort.

Start early by requesting a list of data fields or dummy data to understand exactly what information is available, how it’s structured, how often it is sent and when. This will help you scope which data fields are essential, propose a clear and minimal data request, and engage information governance teams with confidence.

Consider how data will be shared. If data is shared manually (for example, via secure email), even a one- to two-week delay can have significant knock-on effects on outreach, matching and delivery timelines.

It’s also worth noting that the NHS and Department for Work and Pensions’ datasets are not always fully accurate or up to date. You’ll likely need sophisticated matching logic to pick up eligible parents despite inconsistencies in names, addresses, or postcodes across datasets – especially to avoid missing people due to small errors or format differences in names and addresses.

Where possible, avoid building entirely new data pathways. Instead, build on existing data flows – for example, those used for health visiting or birth registration and explore how these can be linked or extended within your council’s existing infrastructure.

Finally, no data solution will ever be perfect. You may need to provide a self-referral route for families who aren’t picked up through data matching and work with community partners to identify eligible parents who may otherwise fall through the cracks.

What’s the simplest form of this I could create in my local authority?

If you're looking to get started quickly or with minimal infrastructure, one option is to pilot a small-scale, application-based model. You could invite pregnant people receiving benefits to apply, promote the offer through health visitors or Family Hubs, and provide a modest cash grant alongside a warm invitation to your Family Hub. This approach avoids the need for complex data sharing and allows you to test demand and outcomes in a manageable way.

What if I don’t work for a local authority?

You can still play a role. If you're based in the NHS, voluntary sector, or a university, you might partner with a local authority to support a pilot, offer maternity data under a governed agreement, or help evaluate the impact. Local authorities may also welcome your support in co-designing outreach or delivery models, especially if you work closely with families who would benefit from the grant.

What are the biggest safeguarding concerns to be aware of?

The main safeguarding risk is inadvertently disclosing sensitive information, such as someone’s pregnancy or benefit status, to others in the household. Communications, whether by letter, text, or email, should be carefully worded to avoid putting anyone at risk, especially in cases of domestic abuse or coercive control.

It’s also important that families feel in control. Participation should always be optional, and messages should make it clear that there are no conditions attached. If someone discloses safeguarding issues (such as abuse or mental health issues), staff should be prepared to respond sensitively and know how to refer or escalate to appropriate support.

In some cases – such as where someone has a history of addiction, financial coercion, or substance misuse – it may be appropriate to offer alternative forms of payment (for example, gift cards, staggered payments) in consultation with the individual and relevant professionals. This should be done carefully and only where it supports the person’s safety and wellbeing.

Above all, a trauma-informed and respectful approach helps ensure the grant offer feels safe, empowering and genuinely supportive.

Are you worried that parents will spend the money unwisely?

This concern is common but not well-evidenced. Research shows that when families in financial hardship receive unconditional cash, they typically spend it on essentials such as food, bills and baby items. Many low-income parents already budget carefully, and the stress of poverty often makes it harder to plan or engage with services. By reducing financial pressure, even temporarily, the grant can create space for parents to focus on their wellbeing and their baby.

In our pilot, we took a trust-based approach: the grant is unconditional and not monitored. Where appropriate, we offered gentle guidance or signposted financial support and Family Hub services, but never placed restrictions on spending. Our early feedback suggests that this approach felt empowering, respectful and helped build trust with services.

What approach should I take to supporting people with no recourse to public funds?

Families with no recourse to public funds are often excluded from financial support, yet they may face some of the most significant challenges. If your funding allows, it’s worth considering whether you can include these families – either by using discretionary funds or by working with partners who can help identify and support them. Community organisations can also play a key role in making sure your programme is inclusive, safe and accessible for those who may be hesitant to engage with official services.

What will Camden do if the pilot shows positive outcomes?

If the evaluation suggests that the grant has positive outcomes, we’ll explore options for scaling or sustaining the approach. This could include, but is not limited to:

• making the case for local or national policy change
• sharing learning with other boroughs
• integrating the approach into existing services (such as via health visiting pathways or wider poverty prevention programmes)
• seeking external partners or philanthropy to expand reach.

We’re also interested in further testing the model, including adaptations (for example, for families with newborns or other target groups, different grant values), and strengthening the evidence base through pooled data and cross-borough collaboration.