A report has confirmed that 98% of councils do not think the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) will fulfil local needs.

According to the survey by the Local Government Association (LGA), only 2% of local authorities believe the annual funding of £842m will be ‘sufficient to meet local welfare needs to a great extent’.

Based on responses that represented the views of 113 councils, two thirds said that they believed the financial difficulties faced by households would continue to rise after having surged over the past year.

A further 69% of respondents also backed the establishment of a new funded statutory requirement for the provision of local advice.

Plans for the new fund involve merging emergency support and preventative approaches to achieve improved ‘financial resilience among households and communities’, with the CRF serving as a substitute for the current Household Support Fund (HSF) and Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP).

However, just 15% of local authorities thought it was feasible for the fund to be introduced by April 2026, with councils revealing fears over ‘tight delivery timelines, funding adequacy and the administrative burden’ associated with the CRF’s rollout.

Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor, Chair of the LGA’s Health and Wellbeing Committee, said: ‘We are pleased that the Government has maintained funding for local welfare support through the new CRF by bringing together the current HSF and DHP schemes. However, it is important that the best of these schemes is retained, particularly their role in supporting long-term financial resilience.

‘Streamlining the funds together will be a challenge as they are currently administered by different tiers of local government, with different rules and purposes. Local councils are ready to work closely with DWP and MHCLG as they develop and implement the new approach.’

She added: ‘Councils should have a key role in commissioning and the delivery of these services to ensure that they can be effectively integrated with local services to improve health and wellbeing and deliver for those households in most need.’