Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of No Recourse to Public Funds rules on levels of rough sleeping.

The Home Office has published its policy equality statement on the impact of the No Recourse to Public Fund (NRPF) policy on migrants on the 10-year human rights route.??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.

The?NRPF policy is based on the principle that migrants coming to the UK are expected to maintain and support themselves and their families without posing a burden on the UK’s welfare system.??Access?to benefits and other publicly funded services?reflects?the strength of a migrant’s connections to the UK and?is normally linked to?indefinite leave to remain.

People on the 10-year human rights route can apply to have the condition?lifted.? Other groups, such as refugees, are exempt from the condition.

The Government has provided more than £3.7 billion in un-ringfenced funding to help councils to manage the additional costs of COVID-19, including supporting those who are homeless and sleeping rough.