A New Era for Local Welfare Provision- Maximising the Crisis and Resilience Fund

From April 2026, councils will begin delivering the new Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF), the first multi-year, ring-fenced funding investment in local welfare provision for over a decade. Replacing the Household Support Fund and incorporating Discretionary Housing Payments, the CRF marks a significant shift in how councils can respond to financial hardship and strengthen local resilience. It also sits within a wider national landscape shaped by the National Child Poverty Strategy, recognising more explicitly the role that councils play in supporting residents and addressing poverty at a local level.

With DWP expected to publish the Fund’s guidance in January, this webinar offers an early opportunity to understand the details, explore the opportunities it creates, and begin shaping local planning ahead of implementation in April.

Crisis Support, delivered well, can strengthen local resilience and contribute to the wider system conditions that help residents avoid hardship in the longer term. Resolve Poverty will explore how the CRF can support a more strategic and preventative approach to addressing poverty in your locality. Informed by insights emerging from our work across local systems, the webinar will consider how the CRF can be used to create stronger crisis pathways, improve integration with preventative services and align with wider anti-poverty activity and local strategy priorities.

The CRF provides a valuable opportunity for councils to develop a more coherent and joined-up welfare system. This session will support areas to identify and build on strategic opportunities within their local landscape, ensuring the fund is used in a way that delivers better outcomes for residents.

This webinar also acts as a forerunner to Resolve Poverty’s CRF breakout session at the National Conference on the 18th of March 2026.

Why you should attend

• Understand the CRF in detail, including the expectations set out in the forthcoming DWP guidance

• Explore what the CRF means for your organisation, local partnerships and residents

• Consider how crisis support can strengthen local resilience and contribute to wider anti-poverty action

• Learn how the CRF aligns with wider national and local policy developments, including the national Child Poverty Strategy