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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 study uses a mixed methods approach – this will include a literature review, an online survey sent to all UK local authorities, qualitative research interviews with local authority officers and elected members in targeted local authorities, interviews with relevant NGOs and stakeholders, as well as four focus groups with:
- Families supported by local authorities under s17 Children Act 1989
- Single adults supported through the Care Act 2014
- EEA nationals at risk of destitution
- Those subject to the NRPF condition not accessing LA support
Secondary analysis will 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 and data on applications to lift the NRPF condition (‘change of conditions’).
Based on the research findings, knowledge exchange activity with local authorities will support them in developing their policies and practices, collating and understanding the data they already hold, and synthesising research outputs for policy-making audiences.
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, Local Government Association; 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 Tutor and Yasna Sarwar Khan.
Number of UK residents without welfare safety net increases by more than 1 million in two years
Press | 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