New - first of its kind £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund comes into effect today

From 1 April 2026, Local Authorities across England will begin delivering the new £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF). The CRF can support schemes such as free school meals during school holidays and crisis support for housing cost shortfalls.

The CRF replaces the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments in England with a single, streamlined grant cutting red tape for councils and making it easier for families to access help when they need it.

For the first time, multi-year funding is in place, confirmed through to 31 March 2029. This ends the annual cliff-edge funding cycle and gives councils the long-term certainty they need to plan services that make a lasting difference in their communities.

Co-designed with councils and charities (including Sustain, the Independent Food Aid Network, and several other alliance members), the CRF will empower local authorities to target support where it is needed most, including debt advice, housing costs and crisis payments. It seeks to prevent crises from occurring in the first place and to reduce long-term pressure on services through a shift towards greater investment in financial resilience.

Sabine Goodwin, Director of the Independent Food Aid Network, a Sustain alliance member, said:

“The three-year Crisis and Resilience Fund has the potential to reduce the number of people having to turn to charitable food aid providers because of lack income while helping to deliver the Government’s commitment to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels." 

“Not only will people be able to access effective cash-first crisis support across local authorities in England, but they will have the opportunity to benefit from wraparound support, including help and advice to maximise income, through local community networks dedicated to building individuals’ financial resilience."

“Through an exemplary co-design process, the DWP has enabled local authorities, people with lived experience, and a range of other experts to co-develop transformative guidance that champions a cash-first, needs-based, person-centred approach to poverty.”

Crisis payments can be for "the provision of food, utilities, household goods or other essentials".

Read the DWP guidance on how the CRF can be spent. 

The guidance prioritises a 'cash first' approach, in line with Sustain's four pillars of action to achieve household food security while helping to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

The Sustain food and farming alliance warmly welcomed the Crisis and Resilience Fund. People experiencing crisis need money to weather difficult times, pay their rent and bills, and to buy everyday essentials such as nutritious food. Food Foundation data shows that well over 6 million adults and 2 million children are struggling to afford the food they need, and food prices are going up due to international conflict. So this cash-first crisis support will be vital to help more people to manage their finances, and to eat well.

Isabel Rice, Food Poverty Campaign Coordinator for Sustain, said:

We are really pleased the government has committed funding for 3 years not just for cash-first crisis support, which is essential, but also to build financial resilience and help move beyond dependence on emergency food parcels. This gives local authorities the opportunity to address the root causes of food insecurity, including through cash first approaches, nutritional security schemes, supporting thriving community food infrastructure, and local collaboration to meaningfully reduce poverty.”

Section 46 of the CRF guidance for local authorities, to which Sustain contributed, highlights how local authorities can support key food schemes that can improve nutritional security and community food assets. The CRF guidance states:

"Authorities should also consider how the needs of affected families will continue to be met through the CRF’s Resilience Services and Authorities’ wider local welfare offer. This could include: 

• ensuring families eligible for Free School Meals are aware of and can access Resilience Services. Particularly support to ensure families are claiming all welfare support they are entitled to. 
• coordination with the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme, which supports children from lower-income families by providing free meals and enriching activities during school holidays. Authorities can choose to use the CRF funding to supplement or expand HAF provision, where it aligns with the Fund’s outcomes on resilience.  
• engaging with families at risk of food insecurity by working closely with schools and Family Hubs. 
• community food aid that promotes the development of new, creative approaches that align with CRF outcomes to build resilient local food landscapes (paragraph 110)."

Kath Dalmeny, Chief Executive of the Sustain food and farming alliance. said:

“Alongside cash-first payments, the new Crisis and Resilience Fund also has a very welcome focus on preventing crisis from happening by building financial resilience. We look forward to working with the DWP, the Local Government Association and local authorities across England to make the Crisis and Resilience Fund a success, to learn from and share good practice, and to reach the people and communities who need it the most.”

The CRF is just one part of the Child Poverty Strategy, which aims to lift 550,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this Parliament.

Other measures include lifting the two-child limit on social security benefits, Free School Meals for children in a household claiming Universal Credit and more accessible childcare for working parents on Universal Credit.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, said:

"The launch of the new £1bn Crisis and Resilience Fund marks a genuine turning point in how this government supports families before hardship takes hold."

“For the first time ever, local authorities will have the certainty they need to build lasting, preventative services that protect struggling households, including children and families from financial shocks."

“The fund is part of our ambitious Child Poverty Strategy and shows what the strategy looks like in practice - investing in families' futures and giving every child the best possible start in life." 

Andrew Forsey OBE, National Director, Feeding Britain, said:

“The Crisis and Resilience Fund will play a key role in helping to end the mass dependence on emergency food parcels from food banks.

“With its dual emphasis on getting money quickly into people's pockets, and helping people stretch that money further, the Fund looks set to do what it says on the tin: responding quickly to crisis situations and building greater resilience.”

Polly Jones, Director of Communities at Trussell, said:

“The Crisis and Resilience Fund is a vital step towards a future where no-one needs to turn to a food bank."

"We know people living on the lowest incomes can very quickly be tipped into crisis by an unexpected cost or financial shock such as illness or a job loss which can leave them without enough money to afford the essentials we all need to get by. Effective cash-first crisis support is crucial in preventing a short-term crisis from becoming long-term hardship, by ensuring people have enough money to pay for the essentials we all need to get by."  

“We are delighted to be working closely with local authorities and the Department of Work and Pensions to ensure this fund makes a meaningful difference in local communities. We look forward to continuing this work in partnership to help end the need for food banks for good.” 

Chris Brill, Director of Expert Link, said: 

“A cash-first approach matters because it gives people dignity, choice, and a better chance of getting through a crisis in a way that works for them."

“We welcome the continued focus on improving local crisis support through the Crisis and Resilience Fund, especially because it has been co-designed with people with lived experience of hardship and crisis. That really matters, because support works better when it is shaped by people who understand first-hand how these systems feel and work in practice, and what people actually need."

“We hope this helps more local authorities move towards crisis support that is flexible, dignified, and rooted in the realities of people’s lives.”

Kirsty McHugh, CEO of Carers Trust, said:

"The Crisis and Resilience Fund has the potential to be a lifeline for unpaid carers around the country. Many are struggling day to day and we are delighted that the Government has listened to our concerns and identified carers as one of the groups that should benefit.

“One in four carers are living in poverty, with many using food banks, so we now need to make sure that local authorities work closely with our local carers services to ensure that the money gets to where it will have most impact."

Claire Donovan, Director of End Furniture Poverty, said: 

“Local authority crisis support is a vital route out of furniture poverty but one which our research proves has sadly been unavailable in many parts of England over recent years."

“The Crisis and Resilience Fund is a well-funded three-year scheme and the emphasis in the guidance on the importance of using the fund for the provision of furniture and appliances will hopefully mean that many more vulnerable families will be able to access essential items like children’s beds and cookers."

“Providing these items not only lifts families out of a crisis, it also helps them to build resilience and to rebuild their lives and we have really appreciated the opportunity provided by the DWP to contribute to the development of the scheme.”

Graham Whitham, CEO at Resolve Poverty, said: 

“We welcome the launch of the Crisis and Resilience Fund as a significant step forward for local anti-poverty action. In light of the renewed national emphasis on tackling poverty through the Child Poverty Strategy, the Fund provides an important local delivery mechanism to strengthen support for households facing financial hardship and reduce reliance on emergency provision."

“This reflects years of sustained campaigning by Resolve Poverty and partners across the anti-poverty sector, including through the Crisis Support Working Group, to secure a stronger and more sustainable approach to local crisis support."

“The Fund presents a valuable opportunity to strengthen and bolster the anti-poverty work already underway in localities across the country. At Resolve Poverty, we are supporting local authorities to navigate the Fund and maximise its impact and will continue working with partners to shape its future and strengthen the long-term role of local crisis support.”