Best practice when assessing and
supporting migrants with no recourse to
pubic funds (NRPF)
Catherine Houlcroft
NRPF Network
10 May 2016
Summary
• NRPF overview
• Key duties towards families and adults
• Challenges for local authorities and social
workers
• Local authority responses best practice in
operating NRPF services
• What can you do?
• Future legal/policy developments
• Any questions?
What is no recourse to public
funds (NRPF)?
• NRPF = an immigration condition restricting
access to..
and
certain welfare benefits
council housing
People with NRPF are not
excluded from..
..but eligibility criteria may
apply based on nationality
and immigration status
Who has NRPF?
• People ‘subject to immigration control’ =
• Visa overstayer
• Illegal entrant
• Limited leave to remain with NRPF e.g.
spouse, student, family private life
• Indefinite leave to remain as an adult
dependant relative (first 5 years in UK)
(Section 115 Immigration & Asylum Act 1999)
Who does not have NRPF?
• People will have recourse to public funds when
they have:
• Refugee status
• Humanitarian protection
• Discretionary leave to remain
• Limited leave to remain (family and private
life rules when the person is destitute)
• Destitute domestic violence concession
• UASC leave
• Indefinite leave to remain (except adult
dependant relative)
How to identify whether
someone has NRPF
EEA nationals
and family
• People who are not subject to immigration
control may have NRPF if fail benefits/housing
eligibility tests e.g. ‘right to reside’ and ‘habitual
residence test’:
• EEA nationals- generally need to be a ‘worker’
or have permanent residence, or be a family
member of such a person
• Non-EEA national with EU derived rights as
primary carer of British Citizen (Zambrano
carer)
Asylum seekers/refused
asylum seekers
• Do not have access to public funds
• May receive Home Office support when they are:
• Seeking asylum- pending claim/appeal
• Refused families
• Refused asylum and meet certain criteria
• Support accessed via Asylum Help
http://asylumhelpuk.org/
What does this mean for
social services?
• NRPF = immigration condition restricting access
to welfare benefits and LA housing only
• Social services support is not a ‘public fund’
• People with NRPF may be eligible for
accommodation and/or financial assistance from
social services to avoid destitution = ‘safety net’
support for most vulnerable
Why do social services provide
safety net support?
• Duties arise from responsibilities to children
and vulnerable adults:
Section 17 Children Act
1989
Safeguard and promote the
welfare of children who are in
need (destitute child = in need)
Sections 23C, 24A, 24B
Children Act 1989
Leaving care responsibilities to
former looked after children until
age 21 (or 25 if in training/
education)
The Care Act 2014
Duty to meet an adult’s eligible
needs arising from or related to a
physical or mental impairment or
illness
Key points– children & families
• Trigger for CIN assessment = low threshold & physical
presence test - s.17(1)(a); parent’s immigration status
does not prevent an assessment being carried out.
• Interim support can be provided pending assessment
• S.17(1) requires the promotion of upbringing of
children in need by their families – offering to look
after child only or taking child into care in the absence of
additional safeguarding issues (i.e. suffering or likely to
suffer significant harm) is not appropriate response.
Key points - adults
• Responsibility for meeting needs - ordinarily resident or
has no settled residence.
• Power to provide emergency accommodation pending the
outcome of an assessment - s.19(3) Care Act 2014.
• Low threshold for undertaking assessment - an appearance
of need, not on the likelihood of entitlement to services –
s.9(1) Care Act 2014.
• Assessment process is same for all adults, regardless of
whether NRPF
Five groups excluded from
social services support…
1. Refugee status granted by another EEA state
2. EEA national (not British Citizens)
3. Unlawfully present - visa overstayers, in-country
refused asylum seekers, illegal entrant
4. Refused asylum seeker who has failed to comply
with removal directions
5. Refused asylum seeking family certified by the
Home Office as having failed to take steps to
voluntarily leave the UK + dependants
(Schedule 3 Nationality, Immigration and
Asylum Act 2002)
..unless exception applies
• When the local authority determines that the
provision of support is necessary to avoid a
breach of a person’s rights under:
or
EU treaties
• Key question: can the person return to their
country of origin without a breach occurring?
What do the exclusions mean for
social services?
• Must establish nationality and immigration status
- if the person/parent is in an excluded group,
undertake a human rights assessment.
• Establish whether there is anything preventing
the person from returning e.g.
• Pending human rights application
• Medical condition
 Yes – provide support (if eligible)
 No – fully consider whether return would
breach any human rights/EU rights
What support must the
authority provide?
• Accommodation
• Financial support – subsistence:
• Must meet needs of the child
• Must pay amount for family
• Standardised rates advisable so long as
flexibility to meet additional needs
• Must provide clients with policy
• Must determine amounts by rational process
See NRPF Network factsheet: Subsistence support for families
under section 17 Children Act 1989
Challenges for local
authorities: costs
Av. time
families
on
support
771 days
Av. time
adults on
support 1176
days
No funding
from central
government
Reactive
service
and ??
costs
Sourcing
housing
Challenges for local
authorities: immigration policy
Conflicting priorities?
‘Hostile
environment’ switching off
services
Destitute
migrants
Local authority
responsibility place shaping
Challenges for local
authorities: immigration policy
25% client
group =
lawfully
present but
NRPF
Barriers to
regularising
stay e.g. fee
waivers
Resolution
dependant on
Home Office
decision
making
Low
removal
rates
66%
client
group =
no status
51% family
cases
resolved
by grants
of LTR
Challenges for social workers
• Social worker = dual role of gatekeeper and
advocate – protecting public purse and achieving
positive outcomes for clients
• Complex legislation – social care,
human rights, immigration and EU law
• Challenging issues to raise e.g. return
NRPF Network response
Free
guidance and
information
Share good
practice
Embed NRPF
Connect in
local
authorities
Share data
& case
resolution
Ensure that
cost shunts
are
evidenced
Pressure
central
government
Good practice: local authority
responses
• ‘Invest to save’ in specialist workers/ teams
• Establish protocols to identify cases at point of
referral and guide assessments
• Standardise practice e.g. subsistence payments
• Support can be open-ended; proactive action to
resolve case = quicker and better outcomes &
cost effective
Good practice: reducing time
spent on support
Refer for
legal
advice
Regular
reviews
Asylum
support
Resolving
supported
cases
Voluntary
return
options
Employment
support
Income
maximisation
Partnership working
with Home Office
Good practice: NRPF Connect
• Secure data sharing
• Organise and report caseload
Local
authority
creates
case
Home
Office
immigration
status
check
Local
authority
decides
whether to
support
Home
Office flags
supported
case on
systems
• £2000+VAT/yr
• 39 LA users
• Evidence – costs and policy
Local
authority
can request
updates
and
prioritisation
Home
Office
informs of
outcome
What can you do?
• Find out how many NRPF families/adults/care
leavers are supported
• Establish pathway for NRPF cases
• Write/ review policies and procedures
• Review subsistence payments in line with case
law principles
• Arrange staff training
• Attend regional NRPF Network meetings
• Keep up to date with developments – join NRPF
Network
Changes on the horizon
Immigration Bill 2015-16
• Extends ‘hostile environment’ measures
• End asylum support for refused families and
section 4 support for refused asylum seekers
• Takes provision of accommodation/financial
support out of Children Act 1989 and creates new
statutory scheme for destitute:
• Families with no status
• Zambrano families
• Care leavers with no status
Immigration Bill: what will
change?
• Detail yet to be worked out so a lot unknown.
• Specific statutory responsibility for supporting
destitute migrant families and care leavers
 More consistent practice?
 Easier assessments?
• Refused asylum seeking families = new client
group
• More destitution/ referrals?
• More complex as scope for falling in/out of support
schemes?
NRPF Network services
• Free resources - www.nrpfnetwork.org.uk:
• Latest news
• Practice guidance
• Factsheets
• Join the Network to receive bi-monthly news
bulletin
• Regional NRPF Network meetings
• Training - open access courses & in house
on commission
• NRPF Connect database
Contact details
Catherine Houlcroft
Project Officer
No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) Network
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nrpfnetwork.org.uk
Twitter: @NRPFNetwork