Decision

To approve Wiltshire Council entering into a Deed of Variation with Wiltshire Citizens Advice to vary the existing Agreement to incorporate support services for crisis prevention working with schools and early years settings and work with local partners in rural communities to review service provision in connection with the Council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF).

Reasons for the decision

Wiltshire Council intends to enter into a Deed of Variation with Wiltshire Citizens Advice to provide support services to eligible households to build financial resilience by working with and taking referrals from schools and early years settings and reviewing current services of rural based organisations to ensure financial support services are reaching rural communities in Wiltshire. The Additional Services will be delivered by Wiltshire Citizens Advice from 21 May 2026 to 31 March 2029.

As part of the Variation, Wiltshire Citizens Advice agrees to deliver these additional services alongside the existing services set out in the Agreement in accordance with the new Schedule 8 which sets out:

- The scope of the additional services and intended outcomes;
- Monitoring and reporting requirements;
- Performance measures; and
- Fraud prevention and assurance;

Wiltshire Council will pay Wiltshire Citizens Advice an Additional Services Fee of £125,000 a year for crisis prevention in schools and early years setting and £39,205 a year for the rural communities’ service review for the duration of the Variation.

The yearly amounts are subject to a review each year to ensure services are being delivered.

General detail of the Project:
1. Wiltshire Council has been allocated from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) via the Crisis and Resilience Fund, £5,183,725 in year 1 (which includes £783,725 additional oil crisis payments). The allocation for year 2 and 3 is £4.4 million and £4,6 million respectively.

2. The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) (“The Fund”) has been made available to local authorities (LAs) in England to support low-income households who encounter a financial shock and to support activity that builds individual and community financial resilience.

This funding covers the period 01 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 inclusive. Local Authorities have discretion on exactly how this funding is used within the scope set out in the accompanying grant determination and guidance.

The primary objective of The Fund is to both 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, reducing crisis need

The Fund will focus on three main outcomes:
• Outcome 1: Provision of effective crisis support. Delivering effective crisis support is intended to prevent the occurrence or escalation of individuals’ crises. By offering timely, needs-based assistance to those with low incomes facing financial shocks, Authorities can reduce the risk of crisis need. This includes the provision of financial support towards housing needs, to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.

• Outcome 2: Improving individuals’ financial resilience. By strengthening financial resilience among individuals, Authorities empower citizens to better manage financial shocks and mitigate the occurrence, recurrence and escalation of crises.

• Outcome 3: Bolstering the local-level support landscape. A joined-up, visible local support network is key to the CRF’s approach to build financial resilience. This includes strengthening resilience networks within local communities, that in turn boost the financial resilience of individuals within these communities. This coordination enables a suitable range of Resilience Services to exist within a local area and ensures there are clear referral pathways between them and crisis support. Through this effective join-up of local support services, Authorities can expect those seeking crisis support to be appropriately referred to services that build their individual financial resilience.

Authorities should adopt the following principles to deliver CRF schemes that are:

• person-centred to ensure that people’s preferences, needs and values stay central to professional decisions, providing support that is respectful to them
• needs-based to recognise the varied circumstances that individuals may experience, seeking to meet the underlying needs, not just the crisis symptoms
• holistic to provide integrated support that helps the individual and their households, with Authorities considering the wide range of services and actions they have access to
• encompass a no wrong door approach to connect individuals to the right service and support through warm referrals, regardless of their initial point of contact
• trauma informed: Authorities should adopt a Trauma Informed Approach when working with people and families in crisis, considering the six principles of trauma-informed practice

Authorities must allocate the CRF funding across the following CRF components:

• Crisis Payment: Providing support to those in crisis
• Housing Payment: Providing financial support towards housing needs, to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs
• Resilience Services: Funding for services delivered by Authorities or external providers to improve financial resilience
• Community Coordination: Investment in activities that connect and enhance the local support landscape

The exact proportions of how The Fund is allocated between these components are at the Authority’s discretion and may vary between years. In Year 1 (the FYE March 2027) and Year 2 (the FYE March 2028), Authorities are expected to maintain existing levels of spending on Housing Payments, using the FYE March 2026 allocations for DHPs as a guide.

Each Unitary Authority and County Council must deliver a CRF Crisis Payment scheme that offers payments to individuals in crisis. Authorities must name their schemes as ‘Crisis Payment’. Authorities should allocate their budgets accordingly to aim for Crisis Payments to be available all-year round. Crisis Payment schemes will be cash-first and operated primarily on an application-basis. Authorities must adopt a needs-based approach that seeks to address underlying needs alongside provision of immediate support.

Following the approval by the Cabinet on 17 March 2026, all applications for funding are delegated to the Corporate Director of Place and Chief Executive (in place of the Corporate Director of Resources) in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Communities, Engagement and Corporate Services.

Applications are collated and then reviewed by the Advisory Board in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Communities, Engagement and Corporate Services.

An initial Advisory Board met on the 27 of March 2026 and provided scrutiny to all of the applications made. As a result, the recommendations will be formally included in the DWP Delivery plan which will be submitted by the 1 July 2026.

The Advisory Board will be held periodically to review any additional or amended applications which will be added as additional schedules.

See the attached document for considerations in line with Wiltshire Council’s Constitution.

Alternative options considered

Not applicable