Crisis and resilience funding in Portsmouth

Portsmouth City Council has received additional funding to help residents with the cost of living from April this year.

Next week, the council’s cabinet members will be updated on changes to the Household Support Fund (HSF), made available by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The fund began in 2021 to help people with essential expenses during the cost of living crisis. Since its launch, it has been extended six times.

Through last year’s Spending Review, the Government announced a Crisis Resilience Fund (CRF) to replace the HSF.

The CRF allocates £1bn per year for three years, with the majority going to English councils to provide long-term support.

As part of the CRF, Portsmouth is set to receive £3.7m from 1 April to March next year, up from the HSF allocation of £3.3m over the same period.

Council reports state that “Portsmouth faces a distinct and intensifying set of local pressures that place many households at heightened risk of financial hardship.”

Out of 317 English local authorities, Portsmouth ranks as the 73rd most deprived, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation average.

Some 35.5 per cent of pupils in the city were eligible for free school meals, more than ten percentage points above the national unitary authority average.

Median gross annual earnings stand at £36,022, compared with £39,243 nationally, indicating less resilience to rising living costs.

Portsmouth’s employment rate is slightly above the national average at 80.4 per cent; however, it has higher levels of unemployment-related benefit claims.

By November 2025, 30,434 Portsmouth residents were claiming Universal Credit – a 14.7 per cent increase on the previous year. Of these, nearly 20,000 were out of work, with 10,206 in work.

Between July and September last year, 540 households were assessed as homeless. Of these, 326 were already homeless and 201 were threatened with homelessness.

Temporary accommodation usage is also high, with 592 households placed in temporary accommodation at the end of Q3 2025/26. This equates to 6.47 per 1,000 households – more than double the national average.

Calls to the council’s Cost of Living Helpline averaged 273 per month in 2025. The council’s Cost of Living Hub also continues to be widely used by residents, receiving an average of 6,464 views per month in 2025.

Council reports state: “The combined national and local evidence presents a clear and urgent picture: poverty is deepening, becoming more entrenched, and increasingly characterised by severe financial vulnerability.

“In Portsmouth, the interplay of low wages, rising UC claims, high housing pressure, growing levels of debt and insolvency, and elevated food and fuel insecurity means that many households are living with little or no financial buffer.”

This context reinforces the need for preventative approaches to financial hardship, strengthened welfare support and cross-sector collaboration.

The  £3.7m programme includes crisis payments, housing support, grants for community groups, expanded advice services, and council schemes on fuel poverty and digital inclusion. Funding also supports the Cost of Living Hub and Helpline and small community grants.

A complete cost breakdown for the CRF is available for residents here. Additionally, you can find cost of living support on the council’s website.

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