Purpose

The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) aims to provide a safety net for those on low incomes who encounter a financial shock and to invest in building local financial resilience to enable individuals and communities to better deal with crises in the long-term. Lincolnshire County Council has been awarded funding over 3 years. This includes an additional one off top up of £1,825,511 for 2026/2027 to support low-income households reliant on heating oil, reflecting the disproportionate impact on rural, off gas communities.

2026/2027 - £11,746,925 (including additional £1,825,511 oil top up)
2027/2028 - £9,915,923
2028/2029 - £11,001,429 (including Housing Payments) (2027/2028 and 2028/2029 figures are provisional)

The Council is required to submit a Delivery Plan to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) setting out how the funding will be used in accordance with published guidance.

The CRF is structured around four core strands, with funding required to be allocated across them. A separate award is made to district councils for Housing Payments in years 1 and 2, these will be fully incorporated in year 3 with the additional allocation being utilised to continue delivery.
The Lincolnshire Delivery Plan allocates the funding across the strands as follows:

Strand %
Crisis Payments (admin included
below) 45.8
Heating oil Crisis Payments
(admin included below)
Resilience Services 27
Community Co-ordination 1.7
Administration (across all
strands and partners) 10.7
Contingency 14.8




The main Crisis Payment scheme will be administered by the 7 district councils, either directly or through their chosen delivery partner to consistent application criteria. The additional Crisis Support oil heating top up of £1,825,511 for 2026/27 is administered separately.

Funding for Crisis Payments has been made available to district councils based on deprivation and includes administration.

Crisis
Payments
Boston £446,490
East Lindsey £1,071,576
Lincoln £714,384
North
Kesteven £491,139
South Holland £535,788
South
Kesteven £625,086
West Lindsey £580,437
TOTAL £4,464,900

Resilience Services preventative and early help services that improve financial stability. Recognising the differing needs of local communities a flexible approach to resilience services is to be taken with both countywide and area-based arrangements through a range of organisations aligned to local need.

Funding made available to district councils in year 2 will be at or above year 1, reflecting the requirement to utilise a significant proportion of the funding on this strand and to allow for services established in year 1 to continue into year 2, reducing any uncertainty, and allowing for 2-year agreements with delivery partners.

Resilience Services
Boston £202,994
East Lindsey £487,186
Lincoln £324,790
North Kesteven £223,293
South Holland £243,593
South Kesteven £284,192
West Lindsey £236,892
Care Experienced
Young People £30,000
Citizens Advice
Outreach £790,100
Under development £324,812
TOTAL £3,174,852

Community Coordination strengthening local referral pathways and building partnerships. The Lincolnshire Financial Inclusion Partnership will be a key mechanism to supporting the delivery of this strand, bringing together public, private, and third-sector organisations to raise awareness and promote financial inclusion across the county.

There is a requirement to ensure that sufficient funding is allocated to the Crisis Payment strand to enable support to be available continuously throughout the funding period. Given that this is a new scheme and the demand led nature of this strand it may be necessary to increase the allocation to this strand mid-year. Holding a contingency allows for this and supports further investment in resilience services which will in part be driven by insight from the crisis payment strand. The contingency amount allows flexibility through the development of the scheme and may be carried into year 2 to meet contract uplifts and new projects in years 2 and 3.

Decision

The Director of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing approves the delivery plan for the Crisis and Resilience Fund
for the period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029.

Alternative options considered

As required by the DWP, the delivery plan has been developed in conjunction with district council partners to allocate the funding across the strands.
Allocating the full amount across the strands with no contingency was considered, however, this creates a risk in being able to meet demand led Crisis Payments should they exceed the allocated amount. Holding a contingency also allows flexibility and for the further development of resilience
services throughout the period of the fund.