‘AI tool’ to deliver crisis funds for vulnerable East Riding residents

The digital system will deliver a ‘no wrong door’ approach to improving access to support.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council bosses are spending £60,000 on the AI innovation and hope the measure will ‘help to identify gaps in provision and reduce duplication across services’.

In addition, the authority is going to spend £89,457 on digital devices to help local people receive crisis support.

The funding for digital devices could include provision of devices, connectivity or assisted digital support where lack of access is a barrier to local people applying for help, managing benefits, accessing debt or budgeting advice, improving employability or maintaining contact with support services.

A cabinet meeting heard how the provision of devices will be targeted at low-income and vulnerable households and linked to wider advice and resilience support, so that digital access helps reduce exclusion and supports longer-term financial stability.

The funding and support was debated as part of the council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) activity.

The council was awarded £3.8m for 2026/27. A similar amount will be awarded to the authority in 2027/28 and 2028/29.

According to the refreshed new strategy, crisis payments (including free school meals) will take up just over 50 per cent of the budget. Resilience services will form 31.7% of the budget, housing payments 8.6%, community coordination taking 2.4% and administration 5.6%.

The council identified Goole, the East Yorkshire Wolds and coastal Hornsea, and north Holderness and rural Holderness as the three regions most in need of crisis support.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council will use the Low Income Family Tracker, which is intelligent data analytics used by around 100 local authorities around the country, to identify households most in need. The strategy makes clear it also expects families to access support through self-referral, foodbanks, community venues, family hubs and GP settings.

“The ‘no wrong door’ approach means the first organisation or service a resident contacts should help them find the right support, even if that organisation is not the one that ultimately delivers the help,” the strategy states.

Crisis payments will continue to provide short-term help to residents experiencing an immediate crisis or sudden financial shock. It could mean council help with food, fuel, utilities, clothing, accommodation, white goods and other essential items.

Council leader, Cllr Anne Handley, chaired the meeting and welcomed the report, stating the cabinet were happy with recommendations as written.

“This is about giving people a hand-up, not hand-outs,” she told the meeting.

“I can safely sit here and say we are giving people a hand-up to see them access jobs, training courses, evening classes. I am quite proud we have been part of this – giving people a hand-up in life is what we should be doing. If we’re giving people a handout forever then they can become reliant on it.”

The council are hopeful the strategy will improve health and wellbeing around the East Riding.