Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the no recourse to public funds policy in the absence of available data and statistics on (a) those subject to and (b) those experiencing hardship as a result of the implementation of that policy.

The no recourse to public funds policy is based on the principle that migrants coming to the UK are generally expected to maintain and support themselves and their families without posing a burden on the UK’s welfare system. The public interest for them to be financially independent is long established. There are existing safeguards and exceptions in place for those in need, for example refugees and those on human rights routes who would otherwise be destitute.

The department has written to the UKSA with regard to the matter of data on no recourse to public funds. Please see the link below: https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/correspondence/response-from-daniel-shaw-to-ed-humpherson-parliamentary-question-response/. The letter commits to investigating the administrative data held on no recourse to public funds and migration, and to assessing whether meaningful information can be provided on the issue of hardship in particular. We will provide an update on this in due course.

The Home Office has also published its policy equality statement on the impact of the no recourse to public funds policy for migrants on the 10-year Family and Human Rights immigration routes. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-change-of-conditions-of-leave-to-allow-access-to-public-funds-if-your-circumstances-change.