Local Welfare
Local welfare assistance is a vital part of the social security system, providing families with a lifeline in times of crisis or unexpected hardship. Yet, in recent years, because responsibility was devolved to local authorities without a clear mandate, and with central government funding both short-term and uncertain, access to crisis help has been patchy and often inadequate across many areas.
In the 2025 Comprehensive Spending Review the Government made a very welcome commitment to put in place a new multi-year Crisis and Resilience Fund which will begin in April 2026. This represents an opportunity for local authorities in London to plan cash first support to help people, including families with children, through a sudden crisis and connect them to the right support to prevent more sustained crisis.
The Mayor’s Family Financial Resilience Partnership will play an important role, providing free independent general and specialist advice in Best Start Family Hubs, Children Centres and their networks.
Calls to Action
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The Government must work with local authorities to embed the key principles of effective local crisis and resilience schemes. They should be widely promoted, easy to access and prioritise cash grants over the provision of emergency food, vouchers and other goods.
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The GLA should work with local authorities and VCS partners to ensure good practice in delivery of crisis and resilience schemes across London.
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Local authorities should put in place a system so that a household falling into council tax arrears is identified as being at risk of poverty and provided with support and advice at an early stage.
Local authorities should reform their Council Tax Support schemes so that where they don’t already, they should not require a minimum payment. They should focus on raising awareness of their schemes and simplifying claims, for example through automatic or semi-automatic applications.
Local authorities should consider how they can offer additional financial support to groups at high risk of experiencing child poverty. For example, the Family Hubs Pregnancy Grant, currently being piloted by Camden Council; this is an innovative scheme providing £500 cash grants to low-income pregnant people, alongside a personalised introduction to local family services.
Helpful Resource
Resetting local crisis support in England (2025) This joint report by Trussell and Policy in Practice contains recommendations for the new Crisis and Resilience Fund to ensure it delivers effective support
Good Practice
As part of the Raise Camden programme set up to address child poverty and inequality in children’s health in the borough, Camden has introduced one-off grants of £500 to eligible pregnant people to help with the costs of pregnancy and having a baby.
