Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee

Recommendation 15

Seventh Report - Children in poverty: No recourse to public funds Published 14 Apr 2022 Paragraph 53 Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We recommend that people on the 5 year route to leave to remain are not moved onto the 10 year route following a successful application for a change of conditions, even if they are still accessing public funds when they apply for settlement. We further recommend that the Home Office urgently updates its website with guidance on this policy change.

From: Work and Pensions Committee, Seventh Report - Children in poverty: No recourse to public funds (HC 603), paragraph 53, 14 April 2022

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 13 June 2022 (deadline 14 June 2022).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government responds to each recommendation, taking forward some reviews, data work and funding while stating "there are no plans to shorten the maximum period of time spent subject to NRPF for families with children" and declining several others.

  • On domestic abuse, it will provide £1.4 million in 2022–23 to continue funding support for migrant victims, with the independent evaluation of the pilot due to report in Summer 2022.
  • The Department for Work and Pensions "will review its guidance and communications" for people with an NRPF condition and will write to the Committee within three months on the outcome.
  • The Home Office does not plan to carry out a cost-benefit analysis on NRPF, saying it "would not be feasible to do so meaningfully", and does not plan to publish the NRPF Forum minutes.
  • On data, the Home Office is "committed to further explore data availability" on NRPF and migrant poverty, while recognising the challenges of identifying and gathering the relevant data.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error