Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to take steps to reduce the time taken to resolve the immigration cases of families that have recourse to public funds and are supported by local authorities under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, in the light of the recent report by the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society.
We work closely with local authorities to ensure that immigration decisions in cases receiving local authority support are made as quickly as possible. The No Recourse to Public Funds Connect database provides a route into the Home Office for local authorities on individual cases, so that these can be dealt with expeditiously. Where migrants granted leave to remain on family grounds show that they are destitute or that there are exceptional circumstances, they are given recourse to public funds.