What is the Crisis and Resilience Fund?

The CRF is designed to:  

• provide a short-term safety net for those on low incomes who encounter a financial shock 
• boost people’s financial resilience 
• improve the support available for low-income households at a local level.  

Councils have been advised support should: 

• be offered on a cash-first basis (cash will be the default option, although councils have the flexibility to offer alternatives depending on a person’s needs and preferences – e.g. vouchers may be more suitable for someone with a gambling addition) 
• take into account the needs and preferences of the people accessing it 
• recognise and be tailored to a person’s individual circumstances  
• integrate a range of services to meet the holistic needs of the people accessing it 
• connect people through warm referrals to the services they need, regardless of their initial point of contact 
• take into account that people may have suffered trauma and act accordingly 

If someone needs help, a friend, relative or third-party organisation can submit a claim on their behalf. 

• Crisis Payments 
• Housing Payments 
• resilience services 
• coordinating local support services 

Each council will decide how it divides its funding across these areas. 

Councils will accept applications for Crisis and Housing Payments throughout the year.

Crises may include: 

• disasters such as flood, fire, gas explosion or chemical leak 
• accident or medical/mental health emergency 
• leaving an abusive relationship 
• an essential item, such as a boiler, breaking down 
• money being lost or stolen 
• redundancy or reduction in working hours 

This is not an exhaustive list, and it is down to each council to decide whether a person’s situation is a crisis. 

It is irrelevant what caused the crisis or if it was avoidable. 

People may be granted a Crisis Payment to go towards: 

• food 
• shelter 
• heating 
• hygiene products 
• clothing 
• transport costs 
• broadband or phone bills 
• energy bills 
• water bills 
• furniture 
• appliances 

Councils are required to assess a person’s circumstances to identify immediate and underlying needs. Where appropriate, warm referrals should be made to resilience/other appropriate services. 

Councils should try to help people ineligible for a Crisis Payment through their resilience services. 

A key objective of the CRF is to make sure children from low-income families don’t go hungry during the school holidays. Instead of offering a blanket provision of food vouchers, councils have been advised to provide support that reflects the needs of the individual families involved – whether this be cash, vouchers or goods in-kind.

They are also being encouraged to direct families to services that can help build their financial resilience and boost local support provision. 

The CRF includes specific housing support that all councils will refer to as Housing Payments. Housing Payments will replace discretionary housing payments (DHPs). 

A person will be eligible for a Housing Payment if they meet both of these citeria:  

• They get housing benefit or the universal credit housing element. 
• The council is satisfied that they need extra financial assistance towards their housing costs. 

Councils have discretion to define what counts as a housing cost but, in general, it includes: 

• rent in advance 
• rent deposits 
• removal costs 
• other lump sum costs associated with a housing need
• shortfalls between housing support and actual rent 

When a Housing Payment is given to cover rent, it should not be more than the weekly housing benefit or universal credit housing element. 

Councils may choose how long to provide Housing Payments for and whether to backdate them. 

People who aren’t eligible for a Housing Payment may still be eligible for a CRF Crisis Payment. These are designed to provide immediate assistance to people in financial crisis regardless of benefit entitlement. 

A person won’t be eligible for a Housing Payment, if they need financial assistance due to: 

• increases in rent due to outstanding rent arrears 
• benefit sanctions 
• a shortfall caused by housing benefit or universal credit overpayment recovery 
• benefit suspension where there is doubt about entitlement or a claimant has failed to provide required information relating to their claim

As part of the CRF, councils are being encouraged to make sure residents have access to services offering: 

• budgeting support 
• income maximisation 
• access to affordable credit 
• financial education

Councils must spend some of their funding on creating more joined-up local support for people on low incomes. This will involve building partnerships and referral pathways so that service users have access to holistic support that addresses all their underlying long-term needs as well as any immediate financial crisis.