Migrants: Children

(asked on 2nd September 2022) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the judgments R (W) v SSHD [2020] EWHC1299 (Admin) of 20 May 2020 and ST and Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWHC 1085 (Admin)) of 29 April 2021, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of the immigration regulations governing No Recourse to Public Funds and social security support on the families of ethnic minority British children subject to those conditions.


Answered by
Tom Pursglove Portrait
Tom Pursglove
Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
This question was answered on 7th September 2022

Revised No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) guidance was published on 18 October 2021 to ensure the best interests of children are considered when considering whether to lift NRPF conditions.

People with leave under the Family, Private life and Human Rights routes that engage Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and those who have been granted leave on the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route can apply, for free, to have their NRPF condition lifted by making a ‘change of conditions’ application. An individual can apply if they are destitute or at risk of imminent destitution, if the welfare of their child is at risk due to their low income, or where there are other exceptional financial circumstances.

Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 imposes a general duty on local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of “children in need” in their area. Support provided to a child by local authorities under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 is not dependent on the immigration status of the child or their parent(s).

Local authorities may also provide basic safety net support, regardless of immigration status, if it is established there is a genuine care need which does not arise solely from destitution, for example, where there are community care needs, migrants with serious health problems or family cases where the wellbeing of a child is in question.

Status holders who have made the necessary national insurance contributions can also claim contributory benefits such as contribution-based Jobseekers Allowance, statutory sick pay, and the state pension.

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