Cornwall Council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund

Cornwall Council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is delivered through a combination of council services and community partners providing both immediate crisis support and longer-term resilience interventions to help residents improve their financial wellbeing and reduce future hardship. Cornwall Council has been able to set up a cash-first crisis payment scheme alongside immediate financial resilience-building support, adapt Discretionary Housing Payments to Housing Payments, and fund resilience services within local community networks of support at pace.

Background

Cornwall Council has used the ‘cash-first but not cash only’ principle in delivering discretionary crisis support across the county since 2013. When providing awards, Cornwall Council worked with their customers to find the help that best suits people’s particular circumstances through the Crisis and Care Scheme and Household Support Fund. This usually meant the disbursement of immediate cash payments and the distribution of Post Office cash out vouchers issued through text messages, emails or letters which has worked well in Cornwall’s rural context.

Cornwall’ cash-first approach to crisis support has best suited residents in terms of dignity and choice, has provided quick and convenient routes to accessing immediate help, and their system simple and has proved straightforward to administer. Before the CRF, Cornwall Council provided direct advice and support to maximise customers’ income, whether a crisis support application was successful or not, and worked with partners across the county to help raise awareness of ways people can access cash-first options and any existing financial entitlements including through Cornwall’s ‘Worrying About Money?’ resources.

Cash-first crisis support alongside housing payments delivered directly by Cornwall Council alongside financial resilience-building support

Cornwall Council now provides cash-first emergency financial help including help with essential household costs, help with the rising cost of heating oil through the CRF energy support scheme, warm referrals to debt advice, benefits support, support to secure employment and increase skills as well as housing assistance through housing payments through their directly accessed CRF. The CRF application form includes a Better Off calculator to immediately help applicants access routes to financial resilience-building options.

When Cornwall residents access crisis or housing payments, they are immediately offered a referral to StepChange. The debt charity provides a range of services designed to help people regain control of their finances and improve their long-term financial resilience including free debt advice delivered online and by telephone; comprehensive budgeting and money management support; income and expenditure assessments to identify affordable solutions; assistance with formal and informal debt solutions, including Debt Management Plans (DMPs), Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), Debt Relief Orders (DROs), Breathing Space applications, bankruptcy advice and other debt remedies appropriate to an individual's circumstances; benefits information and access to financial support tools, including benefits calculators and guidance on managing household costs; and specialist support for people whose mental health has been affected by financial difficulties

Providing additional crisis payments in communities while building financial resilience through Cornwall and bolstering support networks

The CRF is being used in Cornwall in additional multifarious ways to ensure as many cohorts of people as possible can access the support they need in a coordinated way. This support comes in the form of crisis support through council-delivered services and additional CRF crisis payments distributed through community and voluntary sector partners. It also involves financial resilience-building activity across the county underpinned by CRF outcomes including reducing financial hardship and material deprivation; increasing household income through benefits and income maximisation; reducing debt and improving financial resilience; improving access to advice and support services; reducing reliance on emergency food provision; and helping residents build long-term independence and wellbeing.

In terms of council-delivered support, the Safe & Caring Communities team provides emergency accommodation support for adults eligible under the Care Act; the Best Start (Community Health & Wellbeing)team supports families with babies through the provision of emergency formula milk and wider health visitor support, and the Children & Family Services team delivers crisis assistance and essential goods to families who meet Child in Need (Section 17) criteria.

Cornwall Council’s community and voluntary sector partner the Cornwall Community Foundation (CCF) delivers community-based crisis support through grant funding to local organisations and funds preventative and resilience activities, including budgeting support, debt reduction, income maximisation, savings initiatives, and financial capability programmes. Another partner, Together for Families (TFF) provides crisis payments through commissioned services and delivers targeted support to improve family financial resilience through budgeting, debt advice and practical assistance. While Newquay Foodbank’s Interim Accommodation Food & Advice Service supports residents living in temporary accommodation through food provision, advice, coaching, referrals and practical support aimed at increasing long-term independence.

Cornwall Council CRF funding supports Cornwall Rural Community Charity (CRCC) provide help for unpaid carers, disabled people and residents in rural communities including through emergency payments, household essentials, debt reduction support, income maximisation, digital inclusion grants and access to specialist advice all through a ‘no wrong door’ approach with a target response time of 48 hours. Age UK Cornwall & Isles of Scilly is also supported to help pension-age residents experiencing financial hardship through advice, grant applications and preventative interventions. While Community Energy Plus (CEP) provides emergency heating repairs and energy efficiency measures and offers advice on energy costs, fuel poverty, grants, insulation and damp and mould concerns. Cornwall’s CRF also supports Disability Cornwall deliver crisis support for disabled residents, including assistance with food, utilities, essential household items and financial resilience measures. Residents can usefully self-refer through the DIAL service.

With the aim of reducing the need for food banks whilst improving financial resilience and access to support, Citizens Advice Cornwall and Cornwall Mind delivers advice services within food banks while supporting residents with welfare benefits, debt management, budgeting, housing, employment, immigration matters and mental wellbeing.

The CRF in Cornwall has also provided support to through the Holiday Activities and Food Programme to Time2Move providing holiday activities and meals for children eligible for free school meals supporting thousands of children across Cornwall through activities, food provision and enrichment opportunities during school holidays.

Next steps

Cornwall Council see Year 1 of the CRF as a transitional year and look forward to using the learnings from the first of three years of funding as they head into Year 2. Cornwall Council aims to further embed coordinated financial resilience-building support so that a ‘no wrong door approach’ epitomises how people access support in Cornwall and a preventative approach to financial precarity is the norm.