Crisis and Resilience Fund

The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF), launching on 7 April 2026, serves as a vital financial safety net for low-income residents facing unexpected financial hardship.

Sutton’s overarching goal is two-fold: to offer immediate support during a crisis and to strengthen local financial stability to mitigate the likelihood of future crises.

Funded by the UK government, the initiative is structured around four key components:

1. Crisis Payment

This is the scheme's most immediate form of assistance, providing direct financial support to Sutton residents who are demonstrably experiencing a severe and acute crisis. This payment is intended to cover urgent, one-off essential costs that cannot be met by any other means, ensuring a swift resolution to the immediate emergency. Eligibility is assessed against rigorous criteria focusing on the immediacy and severity of the financial need.

2. Housing Payment

This component offers financial assistance specifically directed towards housing rental costs. This payment is primarily intended to prevent homelessness, alleviate rent arrears that put at risk a tenancy, or assist with costs associated with securing a new tenancy. It is a targeted intervention aimed at ensuring housing stability for vulnerable residents.

3. Resilience Services

This element commissions and finances services to boost community financial resilience. Services, delivered by the council and external charities and voluntary organisations, will include debt management, budgeting, employment support, and affordable credit access. The aim is to provide residents with tools for long-term financial self-sufficiency.

4. Community Coordination

This element is focused on connecting and improving the existing network of local support services. The aim is to move beyond isolated interventions towards a more integrated and efficient system. By funding efforts to improve referral pathways, data sharing (where appropriate), and joint working between statutory and voluntary sector organisations, the Community Coordination component ensures that residents in crisis are quickly and seamlessly guided to the full spectrum of support available to them, maximising the impact of every intervention. 

View Crisis and Resilience Fund: Guidance for local authorities in England