£3.7m Blackburn crisis fund will ‘teach a man to fish’

A new borough-wide debt and benefits advice service will be created as part of Blackburn with Darwen Council’s £3.7m plan to help residents struggling with the cost of living crisis.

The authority’s executive board has approved a new three-year framework for delivering the Government-funded Crisis and Resilience Fund, which replaces the previous Household Support Fund and shifts the focus from emergency support to helping people become more financially independent.

Councillors were told the new approach reflects the principle of “teaching a man to fish” rather than repeatedly providing short-term assistance when families reach crisis point.

The £3.669m annual fund will continue to provide emergency support for residents facing immediate hardship but will also finance a new borough-wide debt, welfare advice and income maximisation service designed to help people increase their income, manage debt and build long-term financial resilience.

Presenting the report, the council’s Executive Member for Housing and Public Health, Cllr Matthew Jackson, said the previous Household Support Fund had played an important role in helping struggling households but had not always addressed the underlying causes of poverty.

He said: “Eventually, the support risked becoming something that residents relied upon as an ongoing solution rather than the emergency intervention it was originally intended to be.”

Cllr Jackson added: “In short, it was good, but the outcomes were limited.”

Explaining the rationale behind the new fund, he said: “The Government recognised this and developed a new fund which reflects the ethos of the saying: ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.'”

The councillor said many residents in Blackburn with Darwen continued to live with little financial resilience, leaving them vulnerable to unexpected bills or changes in circumstances.

“We recognise that many residents in Blackburn with Darwen have little or no financial resilience and are often managing from one payday to the next,” he said.

“For many households there is limited capacity to absorb unexpected costs, changing circumstances or wider economic pressures, meaning relatively small financial shocks can quickly lead to a crisis situation.”

Council papers show £1m of the fund will continue to be spent on crisis support for residents facing immediate hardship, while a further £227,000 has been earmarked for discretionary housing payments.

However, the largest element of the programme, £2.112m, will be invested in resilience and prevention measures intended to stop households reaching crisis point in the first place.

Overall, 57 per cent of the funding will be directed towards resilience-building programmes, compared with 28 per cent for direct crisis support.

The new advice service will form a key part of the council’s strategy and is expected to provide debt advice, welfare support and income maximisation services through a borough-wide model.

Other funded initiatives will include work to improve food security, strengthen digital inclusion and connect residents with support services before financial problems escalate.

Cllr Jackson said the programme would provide more than just financial assistance.

He said: “It enables trained staff to pull residents back from the edge, providing support, education and hands-on help which assists people in understanding how they found themselves in that position and helps them build resilience against finding themselves there again in the future.

“As a result, it will help residents achieve long-term stability and reduce future reliance on crisis intervention.”

As part of the decision, councillors approved the overall delivery framework for the three-year programme and signed off funding allocations for 2026/27, which will form the basis of spending for the remainder of the grant period.

The board also approved the commissioning and procurement arrangements needed to establish the new services.

Authority has been delegated to senior council officers, in consultation with Cllr Jackson, to enter into contracts, develop partnerships and make changes to the delivery model if local needs or Government requirements change during the lifetime of the scheme.

The council will also introduce monitoring and evaluation arrangements to measure whether the programme is reducing reliance on emergency support and improving financial outcomes for residents.

Defending the investment, Cllr Jackson said: “I see it not only as a much-needed solution for many residents’ financial problems, but also as an investment in helping residents maintain a healthier financial future.”

The Crisis and Resilience Fund will operate over the next three years, with Blackburn with Darwen Council receiving £3.669m a year to deliver the programme.