Crisis and Resilience Fund - Financial Resilience and Community Cohesion Service

From 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is to provide grant funding to Leicestershire County Council (LCC) through the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) to:

- 1) support low-income households facing a financial shock; and

- 2) invest in preventative and resilience building activity that reduces future crisis demand and builds community cohesion.

The support for financial shock is being provided by a crisis service 'front door' within LCC. This service takes applications and gives payments to those who are eligible due to their financial situation. This element of the Fund launched on 13 April 2026 and is not in scope for this procurement.

This contract is to provide the second part of the above, which is the Resilience Services strand focuses on building individuals' financial resilience. This is defined as the ability to withstand and recover from financial shocks. The aim of this service is to reduce repeat crisis presentations over time to the crisis service.

The DWP require local authorities to undertake activity that supports the following resilience outcomes:

- 1) Reduction in the experiences of material deprivation;

- 2) Reduction in the need for emergency food parcels;

- 3) increased access to appropriate and quality advice services;

- 4) increased savings;

- 5) reduction in debt, particularly priority debt;

- 6) maximisation of individuals' income; and

- 7) decreased repeat demand for Crisis Payments and Housing Payments.

The Community Cohesion and Coordination strand focuses on:

- 1) strengthening local coordination of support services,

- 2) improving partnership working across statutory services, VCSE organisations, and community groups;

- 3) addressing service gaps, duplication, and fragmentation; and

- 4) improving residents' ability to access appropriate support through clear pathways and trusted local connections.

This strand is intended to complement Financial Resilience provision by ensuring that the local support system operates in a joined up, place-based, and community-informed way, in line with CRF principles and DWP guidance.

LCC are planning to undertake a Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) to gain better understanding of the place-based nature of the Crisis and Resilience Fund and the importance of strong local knowledge, existing relationships, and trusted delivery within communities.

LCC will also be holding webinar on Wednesday 29 April 4 - 4.45pm to explore the potential specification for the strands of Financial Resilience and Community Cohesion. Potential bidders will be required to register via the following link: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/4086f5fa-7596-4282-9c54-491e4e81ebc1@1fcf6b4b-21c9-40c2-b753-a29d57017359