Overview

Session 3: Using data and evidence to track and maximise the impact of the Crisis and Resilience Fund

With the opportunity that the new three-year Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) presents, and building on previous Cash First Communities online events in the region, Trussell and IFAN are co-hosting a series of three discussion forums from May to July 2026.

These online sessions will convene charitable food aid providers and other frontline services, including the advice sector, and local authorities teams across the South West of England just as the CRF is initiated across the region. The forums will showcase best-practice examples focused on effective cash-first crisis support and financial resilience-building from across the area as well as inspiring examples from further afield.

Join us for the third in a series of three online discussion forums focused on making the most of the groundbreaking Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) and helping to embed a cash-first approach to food inseccurity at a local level.

Session 3: Using data and evidence to track and maximise the impact of the Crisis and Resilience Fund

Date and time: Monday 6th July, 10:00-11:30

Hear from local frontline and national anti-poverty organisations as well as local authority teams, academics, and data evaluation strategists on how collating data and evidence re the impact of the Crisis and Resilience Fund can make all the difference to how many people will benefit from the funding and to what happens next in 2029.

There will be opportunities to speak and learn from practitioners about collating both quantitative and qualitative data, liaising with local authorities, the LGA, and the DWP with this data, and how we can use this data to build the case for permanent cash-first crisis support in England.

More information and speakers to come. Book now to secure your spot!

Background:

On the 13th of January, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishedguidance for local authorities in England (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crisis-and-resilience-fund-guidance-for-local-authorities-in-england-1-april-2026-to-31-march-2029/the-crisis-and-resilience-fund-guidance-for-local-authorities-in-england-1-april-2026-to-31-march-2029) 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 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/1-billion-resilience-fund-and-next-step-towards-removal-of-two-child-limit-provide-safety-net-for-families), 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 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/allocations-tables-for-all-consolidated-grants-from-2026-2027-to-2028-29-final) 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.

Further reading:

Crisis and Resilience Fund FAQs for food partnerships and the charitable food sector (https://www.sustainweb.org/reports/feb26-crisis-and-resilience-fund-faqs-for-food-partnerships/)(IFAN, Sustain, Sustainable Food Places)

Cash first but not cash only (https://www.foodaidnetwork.org.uk/briefings/cash-first-but-not-cash-only)(Crisis Support Working Group)

The Crisis and Resilience Fund and charitable food provision (https://www.foodaidnetwork.org.uk/briefings/the-crisis-resilience-fund-and-charitable-food-provision) (IFAN/Trussell)

Resetting local crisis support in England (https://www.trussell.org.uk/news-and-research/publications/report/resetting-local-crisis-support-in-england) (Trussell/Policy in Practice)