Overview
- From April, local authorities will run the Crisis and Resilience Fund worth £1 billion a year for at least three years, replacing the Household Support Fund.
- A new crisis payment will give short-term help after financial shocks, with councils setting criteria under guidance that it should not be limited to people on DWP benefits.
- The DWP asks councils to take a cash-first approach, with support that can include direct cash, food vouchers, essentials or school-holiday food vouchers, and that is not a top-up to regular income.
- A new housing payment will replace discretionary housing payments for claimants and will be limited to those on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit with a housing element, covering deposits, rent in advance, shortfalls or moving costs, potentially on a recurring basis.
- Charities welcome the longer-term certainty yet warn hardship reaches many not on means-tested benefits, with IFAN calling the three-year plan potentially transformative and LGA polling indicating councils doubt it will fully meet local need.