In April 2026, the
Household Support Fund (HSF) was superseded by the Crisis and
Resilience Fund (CRF). CRF will run
over three financial years from 2026/27 to 2028/29. Torbay Council is responsible for the
administration of the scheme throughout the three years.
The Council’s
CRF allocation is £2,500,000.
Discretionary Housing Payments are subsumed within the CRF, renamed
as ‘Housing Payments’, which need to be accounted for
separately; after deducting these, a balance of £2,185,439
remains. Of this amount, the Council
may allocate up to 5% (£109,272) towards administration costs
leaving £2,076,167 available for targeted service
delivery.
The Council’s
approach is to ensure that all proposed allocations comply with the
required grant conditions whilst beginning to shift from providing
crisis support to helping improve the resilience of our residents
who are experiencing challenges, whether through homelessness,
debt, food poverty or other issues.
The Council must
administer the CRF to cover 4 strands:
Crisis
Provision – a cash-first approach is recommended in the
guidance, but vouchers, and goods in-kind may also be
used. Councils must adopt a person
centred, needs based, trauma informed approach, with multiple
application routes. Crisis provision
must act as a gateway to wraparound support.
Resilience
Services – wraparound support which seeks to build
financial resilience and address underlying causes of crisis. This
includes advice, information, and advocacy around income
maximisation, budgeting, debt management, and wider issues which
may lead to financial hardship.
Community
Coordination – strengthening local support networks and
referral pathways to ensure that individuals access the right
support which prevents, reduces, or delays the need for further
statutory intervention.
Housing
Payments – replaces Discretionary Housing Payments for
Housing Benefit/Universal Credit housing cost claimants.
The transition from
HSF to CRF represents a significant shift and opportunity, moving
away from temporary relief to cultivating resilience within
communities which will reduce dependency and improve outcomes in
the longer term.
