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Overview
No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) is an immigration condition prohibiting access to the welfare safety net. This project will provide an evidence base on support for precarious migrants – those living in and at risk of destitution. The project builds on our existing research focussing on children in families with NRPF, adding two additional groups – single adults and EEA nationals – reflecting the post-pandemic and Brexit context. The pandemic has seen more comprehensive visibility for NRPF issues, with the ‘everyone in’ policy of supporting single adults with NRPF with accommodation giving a broader scope to the policy area. Post-Brexit changes mean that more EU nationals are likely to be affected – both those already present in the UK who do not have Settled Status and new arrivals.
We will work closely with local authorities to inform and improve policy and practice. This will include both directly supported families and the much larger group of people subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition whose situation is precarious and who are at risk in the medium to longer term of destitution, helping to increase understanding of the characteristics of the group and how a more proactive approach to NRPF provision can have broader impact on overall levels of poverty and destitution. As much research and advocacy in this area are focused on influencing central government, this project will focus on how local governments operate what is essentially a parallel welfare system, how it is justified and administered, and how it could be improved.
Principal Investigator
Jacqui Broadhead, Director, Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity
Researchers
Lucy Leon, Researcher, Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity
Dr Mariña Fernández-Reino, Senior Researcher, The Migration Observatory
Funding
The research involved a mixed methods approach with fieldwork taking place between November 2022 and August 2023 and included the following research methods:
- Secondary data analysis of Home Office data administrative data, Census 2021, Annual Population Survey and the Family Resources Survey to examine the numbers and characteristics of people on visas that generally come with an NRPF condition, whether or not they are being supported by local authorities, as well as data on ‘change of conditions’ applications to lift the NRPF condition.
- A short survey sent to 205 local authorities (in England, Scotland and Wales) and five health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland) across the UK to capture annual numbers of referrals, cases supported and annual expenditure
- Secondary data analysis of NRPF Connect raw data 2015 – 2022 for a demographic breakdown of cases supported and the type of support provided
- Deep dive qualitative research in 7 case study areas (London, West Midlands, North West, East of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) interviewing 60 professionals, incl. social care, housing, local stakeholders and NGOs, to understand local practice
- Focus Groups co-facilitated with community researchers with lived experience of NRPF and interviews with 30 people with lived experience with NRPF, including families, vulnerable adults with care needs, EEA nationals and people who have not been able to access social care support
- A Literature review to understand the changes since 2015 in local authority policy and provision for vulnerable migrants at risk of destitution and to contextualise our findings in line with the existing literature on NRPF.
Advisory Group
Charlie Berry, Shelter; Lucy Bryson, Brighton & Hove City Council; Phil Clarke, Liverpool City Council; Leon Elliott, NACCOM Network; Mariña Fernández-Reino, COMPAS; Mubin Haq, abrdn Financial Fairness Trust; Kris Harris, Project 17; Caz Hattam, The Unity Project; Anne Hubbard, Wales Strategic Migration Partnership; Andy Jolly, University of Plymouth; Louise Kennedy, Executive Office - Northern Ireland; Diletta Lauro, RAMP; Stephen Long, Department of Health - Northern Ireland; Forward Maisokwadzo, Bristol/RAMP; Henry St Clair Miller, NRPF Network; Rupinder Parhar, Greater London Authority; Ilona Pinter, LSE; Jonathan Price, Paul Hamlyn Foundation; Simon Shreeve, Norfolk County Council; Madeleine Sumption, COMPAS; Katey Tabner, COSLA; Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, Praxis.
Experts by Experience Advisory Board
In addition to our Advisory Group, the project also set up an Experts by Experience Advisory Board to make sure the project was able to draw on the expertise of people with lived experience by establishing a safe and empowering space for experts by experience to advise the project in a non-tokenistic and inclusive way. In partnership with NACCOM Network, the project also offered research skills training to members of the Advisory Board so they could be involved as community researchers, co-facilitating focus groups with people with lived experience.
Experts by Experience Advisory Board members include Anum Ahmed, Geo, Imran Khan Bukenya, Kas, Khurram, Shamim Afshan, Tatiana Tsutsor and Yasna Sarwar Khan.
Understanding Migrant Destitution in the UK: Research Findings
Report & Executive Summary | Lucy Leon & Jacqui Broadhead | 2024
Understanding Migrant Destitution in the UK: Literature Review
Report | Lucy Leon | 2023
Deprivation and the no recourse to public funds (NRPF) condition
Briefing | Mariña Fernández-Reino & Mihnea Cuibus | The Migration Observatory | 2023
Significant rise in destitution amongst migrant families
Press | Local Government Chronicle | 14/05/2024
Dysfunctional system and lack of a welfare safety net pushes migrant destitution in the UK to a record high
Press Release | The Global Exchange on Migration & Diversity | 14/05/2024
Number of UK residents without welfare safety net increases by more than 1 million in two years
Press Release | The Migration Observatory | 15/11/2023
Locked Out of a Lifeline: Migrant Destitution in Scotland
Blog | Jacqui Broadhead & Lucy Leon
Destitution in the UK: how the No Recourse to Public Funds immigration condition affects poverty
Blog | Jacqui Broadhead