Nearly half of England's council areas have less money for crisis support this year than they had through the Household Support Fund, according to new analysis of Government funding figures. And Richmond Borough is among the top 10 council areas with the biggest falls in crisis support compared with last year's Household Support Fund.

Wokingham has seen the biggest fall, with its crisis support pot down 29.3% from £926,307 to £655,116.

Kingston (down 29.0%), Richmond (28.1%), Bromley (27.1%) and Bracknell Forest (23.9%) complete the five biggest falls.

The Crisis and Resilience Fund replaced the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments in England on 1 April. Councils have £858m from it for 2026-27, and £749.8m of that is for crisis payments and support services, with the rest covering help with housing costs.

The analysis comes from cost of living experts at Single mothers guide, who compared each council area's 2026-27 Crisis and Resilience Fund allocation for crisis support with its 2025-26 Household Support Fund grant and the number of households in the area.

The pot is smaller than last year in 74 of the 151 council areas analysed.

Newham has the most crisis fund money per household at £71.26, followed by Birmingham (£67.70) and Manchester (£67.68), against an England average of £36.61.

The money is shared out using a formula based on population and deprivation, so poorer areas receive more, and Wokingham has the least at £11.80.

The fund can pay for food, energy including heating oil, water, clothing and school uniform, beds and white goods, essential travel and broadband. Councils must take applications all year round and are told to aim to pay urgent crisis payments within 48 hours of a completed application.

Each council sets its own rules, but many don't require applicants to be on benefits, and a payment won't affect any benefits you get.

There's no national rule on food vouchers in the school holidays, so help over October half-term depends on the council. Manchester is paying £12 for each eligible child, while Leicester and Richmond upon Thames say holiday vouchers have ended.

Dawn Yates, a cost of living expert at Single mothers guide said: "A lot of people still think this help stopped when the Household Support Fund ended, but it's been replaced, and you don't always need to be on benefits to ask for it. If the boiler's gone, the fridge has packed up or you're short on food before payday, get in touch with your council and explain exactly what's happened.

"Some areas have less money this year and some councils pause applications when demand gets high, so it's worth asking sooner rather than waiting until there's nothing left.

Ask about half-term too, because help with food in the school holidays now really does depend on where you live."

The 10 council areas with the biggest falls in crisis support compared with last year's Household Support Fund include:

1. Wokingham: down 29.3%, from £926,307 to £655,116
2. Kingston upon Thames: down 29.0%, from £1,520,778 to £1,079,568
3. Richmond upon Thames: down 28.1%, from £1,474,054 to £1,059,363
4. Bromley: down 27.1%, from £3,292,088 to £2,401,279
5. Bracknell Forest: down 23.9%, from £978,996 to £745,360
6. York: down 22.4%, from £1,829,279 to £1,420,385
7. Surrey: down 21.9%, from £9,324,930 to £7,278,802
8. Windsor and Maidenhead: down 20.7%, from £1,036,165 to £821,298
9. Wandsworth: down 20.7%, from £3,647,406 to £2,891,954
10. Trafford: down 20.7%, from £2,569,813 to £2,039,140

The 10 council areas with the most Crisis and Resilience Fund money per household include:

1. Newham: £71.26 per household (£8.2m in total)
2. Birmingham: £67.70 per household (£28.7m in total)
3. Manchester: £67.68 per household (£14.5m in total)
4. Middlesbrough: £66.36 per household (£4.0m in total)
5. Brent: £65.70 per household (£7.8m in total)
6. Leicester: £65.21 per household (£8.3m in total)
7. Barking and Dagenham: £65.10 per household (£4.8m in total)
8. Blackburn with Darwen: £62.43 per household (£3.7m in total)
9. Oldham: £61.70 per household (£5.7m in total)
10. Enfield: £61.06 per household (£7.4m in total)

Figures cover England's 151 county and unitary council areas, with district council housing payments added to their county, and household numbers from the 2021 Census. The crisis support

+is the fund's money after housing payments and housing administration, including any heating oil top-up. Where two areas show the same percentage, the exact figure decides the order.

The City of London and the Isles of Scilly were not included, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own schemes.