The Vulnerability Academy 2024 has come to a close

In January 2024, we announced the beginning of our second cohort of our Vulnerability Academy.

The UKRN worked in partnership with colleagues from the Money Advice Trust to develop a six-month curriculum which was designed to support colleagues working in and engaging with different aspects of Vulnerability which concluded in July 2024.

“What vulnerable consumers want from regulators is for them to be short on the obvious, and long on the practical, actionable, and impactful. These principles therefore underpinned the Vulnerability Academy created by the UKRN and Money Advice Trust for staff from 11 different regulatory and oversight bodies. Covering core practical regulatory skills, participants graduated their six-month learning programme in July, marking the end of our second Academy cohort. But, with vulnerability ever-changing, we now look forward to our next cohort in the near future”.

– Dr Christopher Fitch, Vulnerability Lead (Money Advice Trust) and Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health

I feel like I learned a lot, both from the lived experience elements of the academy, from listening to peers, and by hearing from such a wide range of experts in the industry.

You’ve given a lot of food for thought in terms of future work we can do with banks and lenders, so thank you again.

– Louise Allemange, Senior Insight and Outreach Manager (Lending Standards Board)

The Vulnerability Academy for Regulators equips regulatory professionals with the latest knowledge and tools necessary to make essential services work for everyone. Through this targeted six-month program, participants gain deep insights into the complexities of vulnerability, allowing them to implement more informed, impactful, and responsive regulatory measures. This ongoing learning is vital for regulators to maintain their effectiveness in safeguarding consumer interests and graduates are already shaping regulatory policies to protect the people who need them the most. 

The public have high expectations of regulators to protect people from harm, particularly people who face the highest barriers to getting what they need. 

– Dr Elizabeth Blakelock, Vulnerability Academy Facilitator

As part of our regulators’ graduation, each participant was presented with a joint UKRN and Money Advice Trust certificate.

UKRN would like to provide our express thanks to those that made this second cohort possible including: Dr Chris Fitch, Dr Elizabeth Blakelock, the Money Advice Trust team, all of our featured speakers and contributors, Lewis Behan (previous UKRN Vulnerability Lead) and last but not least, our regulatory participants.

If you are a UKRN member and would like to find out when our next cohort will be open, please sign up for the UKRN newsletter by contacting ukrn@caa.co.uk.