Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2019 to Question 216277, for what reasons his Department does not collect data on how many children are living in households with parents subject to no recourse to public funds.

The Government has no current plans to start collecting this data. No recourse to public funds is a general restriction applied to the majority of migrants whether here as short-term visitors or with a view to settlement. The restriction can be removed following application for those with a right to remain on a specified human rights basis who would otherwise be destitute. It is not applied to those granted leave for international protection reasons and certain other vulnerable migrants.

Migrants who remain here without leave will not have access to public funds. The nature of illegal entry or overstaying make it difficult to accurately be confident on the numbers of children in these households, but local authorities do collect data on those supported under s.17 of the Children Act and where migrant families are involved this data is provided to the Home Office. The Home Office works regularly with local authorities to help lift the restriction for those who are eligible. In addition, immigration legislation does not prevent the provision of necessary support and assistance in order to safeguard the wellbeing of children.