Overview
- Guidance sets out three strands: crisis payments, a housing payment replacing Discretionary Housing Payments, and funding for local resilience services.
- Councils must open applications by April 1, with urgent awards expected within 48 hours of receiving a request.
- Crisis payments are cash-first and not limited to benefit recipients, targeting households facing sudden financial shocks such as job loss or a broken boiler.
- Housing payments are restricted to people on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing element and can cover rent shortfalls, deposits, advances or moving costs.
- Charities including the Trussell Trust and Barnardo’s welcomed the cash-first approach, while an LGA survey found only 2% of councils expect the funding to meet local welfare needs.