Building Cash First Communities in the South West - The first six months

Following on from our Building Cash First Communities in the South West series focused on understanding, embedding, and reporting on the new Crisis and Resilience Fund in local authorities across the region, IFAN and Trussell are co-ran an online follow-up session.

Find the recordings below for the Building Cash First Communities in the South West series focused on the Crisis and Resilience Fund:

Building Cash First Communities in the South West Session 1: Shaping how the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is delivered locally

Building Cash First Communities in the South West Session 2: Cash first but not cash only and building financial resilience

Building Cash First Communities in the South West Session 3: Using data and evidence to track and maximise the impact of the Crisis and Resilience Fund

Building Cash First Communities in the South West - The first six months

We heard from Katy Ricks, Portsmouth City Council, Kylie Page, Somerset Citizens Advice, Ian Smith, Food Plymouth, Kate Hughes, Trussell, Sabine Goodwin, IFAN, and Sam Gilchrist, West Northumberland Food Bank. The session involved focused discussions on the first six months of the CRF in local authorities across the South West of England as well as further afield and will provide an opportunity to share learning and ask questions.

We also heard about the development of the CRF Alliance, the CRF Alliance resources page now available on the Local Government Association (LGA) website, and the CRF Alliance self-evaluation for local authorities currently under development.

Background:

On the 13th of January, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published guidance for local authorities in England on how to deliver the new Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) set to replace Household Support Fund (HSF) iterations in England from April 2026 to March 2029.

The three-year funding pot, amounting to £831 million to English local authorities annually, allows local authorities to plan strategically for the delivery of default cash-first crisis payments, financial resilience-building through community networks of support, and housing payments (incorporating Discretionary Housing Payments). The guidance was co- designed by the DWP alongside third-party organisations, including members of the Crisis Support Working Group (CSWG), and local authority representatives. Each local authority funding allocation is accessible through this link under the Crisis and Resilience Fund table and levels are equivalent to HSF funding during 2025-26.

The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) will enable local authorities in England to prioritise cash-first provision of crisis support in every local authority while supporting local community networks to boost individualsʼ financial resilience. Local authorities are encouraged to support food banks, charitable food aid providers including food pantries, social supermarkets, food clubs, food partnerships, and food poverty alliances integrating or co-locating with resilience services (programmes and activities which support building financial resilience).

The CRF is focused on three key outcomes including the ‘provision of effective crisis supportʼ, ‘improving individualsʼ financial resilienceʼ, and ‘bolstering the local level landscape to in turn boost the financial resilience of individuals within these communitiesʼ and outlines person-centred, needs-based, trauma-informed, holistic, ‘no wrong doorʼ approaches as key.

Prioritised cash-first delivery of crisis support alongside financial resilience-building through community networks of support is widely welcomed and acknowledged as a key plank in the fulfillment of the Governmentʼs manifesto commitment on ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

Find out more :

Crisis and Resilience Fund FAQs for food partnerships and the charitable food sector (IFAN, Sustain, Sustainable Food Places)

Cash first but not cash only (Crisis Support Working Group)

The Crisis and Resilience Fund and charitable food provision (IFAN/Trussell)

Resetting local crisis support in England (Trussell/Policy in Practice)

The Crisis and Resilience Fund Alliance

Building Cash First Communities in the South West Session 1: Shaping how the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is delivered locally

Building Cash First Communities in the South West Session 2: Cash first but not cash only and building financial resilience

Building Cash First Communities in the South West Session 3: Using data and evidence to track and maximise the impact of the Crisis and Resilience Fund