1.4 million people nearly lost out on vital support with cost of living increases
Here’s what the Government should do to support people with No Recourse to Public Funds through the cost of living crisis
Earlier this month, local authorities began distributing the Council Tax rebate, a payment of £150 to around 20 million households. [1] The rebate is part of a national £9.1 billion scheme designed to support those who most need relief from rising energy prices.
One benefit of the rebate is that it’s automatic — for most people, it’s paid straight into their bank accounts. And its reach isn’t limited to the welfare system, meaning it’s accessible to people with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). NRPF is a condition attached to most temporary visas which prevents people from applying for the majority of benefits, including Universal Credit, Child Benefit and social housing. It affects 1.4 million people living in the UK. [2]
But due to the legal route the rebate was set up through, it was going to be classified as a public fund. Despite the government’s intention of providing universal support, people with NRPF wouldn’t be allowed to receive it. This was particularly worrying given that the rebate would be automatically paid into people’s bank accounts. So, up to 1.4 million people would be entirely unknowingly violating their visa conditions — and at risk of deportation — through no fault of their own.
On 30 March, the Home Office changed legislation so that people with NRPF could receive the rebate. We welcome this change, but we also recognise the gravity of this near-miss. Not only was legislation changed only days before the rollout, but the consequences of not changing legislation would have been severe.
This has highlighted what many of our advisers have long known: the relationship between NRPF and crisis support schemes is complicated and messy. To fix this, people with NRPF should be actively included in cost of living support measures — here’s why, and what the government must do.
Why people with NRPF need to be included in cost of living support schemes
First, people with NRPF are a low-income group, which the government has identified as a key group in need of support through the crisis. While the majority of people with NRPF are working, our research shows that in 2021, almost 3 in 4 (72%) households with NRPF earned less than £30,000 — while the median household income in the UK was £29,900. [3] [4]
This means that people with NRPF are less sheltered from the impact of the cost of living crisis. And with 4 in 5 (81%) already behind on bills before the crisis, we’re concerned that the lack of support available to them will lead to significant harm.
Second, the condition isn’t only applied to short-term visitors. It’s also affecting long-term residents, and people who are building their lives in the UK, including:
- Over half a million (638,000) people in work and 371,000 students
- 329,000 parents and at least 176,000 children [5]
- 486,000 people who’ve lived in the UK for over 5 years and 103,000 who’ve lived here for over 10 years [6]
Without access to the social safety net, people with NRPF are at significant risk of financial difficulty through the cost of living crisis — but the government has the power to change this.
What the government can do
1. Ensure that cost of living support schemes include people with NRPF
In the short term, people with NRPF must be actively included in cost of living support schemes.
Some of the schemes that are currently in place aren’t straightforwardly accessible to people with NRPF. The first of these schemes is the Warm Homes Discount, which includes automatic rebates and discretionary support from suppliers. The automatic rebates are only available to people who are already in receipt of certain benefits, and while discretionary support from suppliers may be accessible to people with NRPF, it’s unlikely to reach everyone who needs it. [7]
It’s vital that the automatic rebates are made available to people with NRPF by providing an alternative eligibility criteria that doesn’t rely on benefits receipt, as has been recently done with Free School Meals. Similarly, suppliers can make it easier for people with NRPF to access discretionary support by ensuring that eligibility and processes for providing payments don’t rely on demonstrating receipt of benefits.
The second is Discretionary Welfare Funds, which the Work and Pensions Committee has recognised has unclear guidance with regards to people with NRPF. While many families with NRPF ought to be eligible for funding, discretionary payments made by local authorities under specific legislation are classed as public funds. They can be made accessible to people with NRPF by amending paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules so that discretionary payments aren’t considered public funds.
Where future support schemes might be introduced outside the benefits system, two key principles must be considered. First, they can’t be classified as public funds like the Council Tax rebate was (before being corrected), and like the discretionary fund currently appears to be. Second, benefits receipt can’t be the only way to access support, as with the automatic Warm Homes Discount rebate. For any support provided to benefits recipients, there should be an alternative way to claim that support for people with NRPF.
2. Remove the NRPF condition for people who are habitually resident in the UK and provide cost of living support through the benefits system
While including people with NRPF in support schemes is essential in the short term, the most important thing is to get people on low incomes the financial support they need now and ahead of a gruelling winter in the long term.
The single best way of doing this is through the benefits system — it’s how we target support to households most affected by the crisis and is simpler than creating rebates like the Council Tax rebate. But that presents a challenge: people with NRPF can’t access the benefits system, because benefits are public funds.
To address this, the government could put in place discretionary support for people with NRPF who aren’t able to receive support through the benefits system. This would be much easier to do if the government clarifies that Discretionary Welfare Funds are not public funds.
But ultimately, we believe that people who are habitually resident in the UK should have the NRPF condition removed, and should be granted access to the benefits system. [7] [8] The best solution to supporting people with NRPF this winter would be not having the NRPF condition for this group in the first place.
Ensuring that history doesn’t repeat itself
The near-miss with the Council Tax rebate scheme has highlighted a central tension between NRPF and cost of living support measures. If support is provided through the benefits system without removing the NRPF condition, then people with NRPF on low incomes will lose out. If it’s provided through schemes outside the benefits system, then this will be less effective overall and will make it more complicated for people with NRPF to access.
Where current schemes exclude people with NRPF, they must be amended to include them. And where future schemes might be introduced outside the benefits system, these shouldn’t be classified as public funds and must not have benefits receipt as a condition for access. But in the end, the best way to support people with NRPF through the cost of living crisis is to utilise the benefits system and remove the NRPF condition for people who are habitually resident in the UK.
End notes
[1] Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, ‘Households urged to get ready for £150 council tax rebate’ (February 2022). The council tax rebate will occasionally be referred to as ‘the rebate’ from here onwards.
[2] The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, ‘Between a rock and a hard place: the COVID-19 crisis and migrants with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF)’ (June 2020). Analysis of Home Office data undertaken by the Migration Observatory.
[3] All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from a representative study of people with NRPF conducted by Citizens Advice between 1 July and 23 August 2021.
[4] Office for National Statistics, ‘Average household income, UK: 2020’ (January 2021).
[5] The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, as above.
[6] On top of this, recent research conducted by LSE demonstrates that removing the NRPF policy would result in net gains of £872 million for society, rather than losses.
[7] GOV.UK, ‘Warm Home Discount Scheme’
[8] People who are habitually resident in the UK includes anyone who has lived in the UK for a considerable period of time. This can be evaluated, for example, by using the Habitual Residence Test. This is a test which EEA and British Citizens already use when returning to the UK after having lived abroad before they’re allowed to claim most benefits.
[9] We recognise that people with family and human rights visas can apply for a change of conditions to the Home Office to have the NRPF condition temporarily lifted. However, this only applies to 1 in 5 (20%) people with NRPF. Similarly, Section 17 support which safeguards children who are in need are only available to families with children. To adequately support everyone with NRPF who is struggling financially, the condition must be removed from everyone who is habitually resident in the UK.
