Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Restoring Control Over the Immigration System: White Paper, whether families accessing Free School Meals under the No Recourse to Public Funds extension could be subject to penalties of 5 or 10 years under the earned settlement scheme.

Data regarding how many people in the UK are subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition (NRPF) is currently in development and not ready for release. We will continue to explore what further information on NRPF can be produced. We are unable at this time to provide a specific timeframe for data publication or indeed confirm what will be published.

The earned settlement model is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation.

The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Consideration will then be given, if appropriate, to how transitional arrangements may be designed to ease the impact of policy change, especially for individuals or groups already afforded permissions by the previous system.

The final model will also be subject to equality impact assessment, which the government has committed to publish in due course.

Free school meals are not classed as a 'public fund' for immigration purposes. It is the Department for Education who set the eligibility criteria for who can access free school meals.