A major overhaul of the Sheffield’s cost of living support has been approved after a report showing that a quarter of the city’s residents live in poverty.

Around £10 million is expected to be allocated to a new Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) following recommendations from the Sheffield Poverty Truth Commission.

The fund will focus on providing cash-first crisis payments, housing support, income maximisation, debt advice and community-based support through Welcome Places and Family Hubs from April 2026.

The decision comes as figures show around one in four people in Sheffield are living in poverty, with rising food, energy and transport costs continuing to place pressure on households, despite inflation easing since 2022.

Council leader Coun Tom Hunt said: “There is nothing inevitable about a cost of living crisis.

“There are deeply ingrained, stubborn inequalities that we have lived in for generations and it is too easy for all of us to think this is just how things are.”

The council aims to introduce more preventative, trauma-informed support, with services designed around accessibility and lived experiences.

The ‘Brown Envelope Code’ is planned to be used in all official communications with the public, which is an initiative aiming to make letters clearer and use plainer language.

Senior Sheffield Poverty Truth Commission member Sarah Clayton expressed the importance of empathy and trauma-informed staff training when public services contact people living in financial hardship.

She said: “A lack of empathy doesn’t move people out of poverty, it often pushes them further into it.

“Dignity shouldn’t ever depend on your bank balance.”

Councillors approved a managed end to school holiday vouchers, confirming they will be replaced with targeted crisis support and financial resilience measures by the end of May 2026.

A new data tool, the Low Income Family Tracker, will be used to identify households most at risk and ensure support reaches those who may be missing out.

Coun Douglas Johnson commended the new poverty support.

He said: “The council are catching up and acknowledging the need not to be the cause of the problem so much as we traditionally have been.”

The approach aligns with the council’s wider goals on tackling poverty, reducing inequality and supporting wellbeing.