Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Crisis and Resilience Fund will help local authorities to address the causes of financial crisis instead of the symptoms.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Crisis and Resilience Fund aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities – working with the voluntary and community sector – as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis. The Fund will support local interventions that prevent people from falling into crisis and improve their citizens’ long-term financial resilience, reducing the need for crisis support in the long-term.

My Department has engaged extensively with stakeholders on the design of the Crisis and Resilience Fund through a structured co-design process involving a representative group of local authorities, third-party organisations and academics. We are considering all feedback received through this process, and we plan to publish guidance in January 2026.