Haringey Council has significantly expanded its financial support team as part of a broader initiative to assist residents facing financial hardship. The move, approved at a Cabinet Member Signing meeting on Friday, July 10, 2026, involves a substantial investment in bolstering the capacity and reach of the council's financial support services.
An estimated £1,742,338 has been allocated for the expansion of the Financial Support Team. This funding will enable the recruitment of 14 new officers – comprising three new Financial Support Advisor roles and ten new Financial Support Officer roles – along with an additional manager. The expansion aims to increase outreach activities and community-based support, with extended operating hours for the financial support helpline to improve accessibility for residents.
The financial support helpline hours will be extended to run from 9am–5pm Monday to Friday. This enhanced accessibility is crucial given that approximately 26% of people in Haringey live in households below the poverty line after housing costs, with child poverty particularly acute at around 39%.
This expansion is part of the council's interim policy for the 2026/27 Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF). The CRF, which received a significant annual allocation of £5,932,161 from the Department for Work and Pensions for the three-year period from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2029, aims to support low-income households facing material deprivation, assist with rental costs, deliver resilience services, and improve community collaboration.
The expanded Financial Support Team aims to increase outreach activity and community-based support by embedding officers at locations like foodbanks for rapid, on-the-spot assistance. They will also utilise the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) tool to proactively address gaps, such as unclaimed benefits, shifting the focus from reactive support to planned income maximisation and prevention. The increased capacity will also allow officers more time to work in the community to raise awareness of available support, build relationships with partners, and increase engagement with residents before issues escalate into crisis.
The council plans to collaborate with local charities and non-profit organisations, as the CRF guidance expects councils to engage with the voluntary and community sector to create strong and consistent provision across the borough. A strategic lead role will be funded to work with service areas and council partners, collaborating with residents and the voluntary and community sector (VCS) to co-produce the borough's approach to tackling poverty.
The council will track several outcome measures to assess the impact of the CRF, including: volume of applications, application routes, time to decision, repeat applications, presenting crisis type, crisis support linked to rent, arrears, repeat housing support, reduced material deprivation, reduced need for food parcels, increased access to advice, increased savings, reduction in priority debt, income maximisation, reduced need for crisis support, referral volumes, coordination between services, and partner engagement. The proposed impact of the expansion includes improved triage, a single digital gateway and extended phone access, improved timeliness of decisions due to additional decision-makers, reduced demand through wraparound support and earlier income maximisation, holistic assessment across income, housing and need, and increased community presence and engagement.
The eligibility criteria for residents to access the financial support services funded by this expansion are focused on low-income households facing material deprivation, those needing assistance with rental costs, and those who can benefit from resilience services and improved community collaboration.
Further details on the decisions made can be found in the Decisions 10th-Jul-2026 14.30 Cabinet Member Signing document. The Public reports pack 10th-Jul-2026 14.30 Cabinet Member Signing and Agenda frontsheet 10th-Jul-2026 14.30 Cabinet Member Signing also provide relevant information.
