Explained: No Recourse to Public Funds

No Recourse to Public Funds is a policy that prevents most migrants from accessing most forms of government support, even if they are on the streets or facing another kind of a crisis. It affects people who came here to work, study or join family because it is applied as a condition of their visas, and those waiting on their asylum application. It includes hundreds of thousands of children, including some who are themselves British citizens.

As well as being applied to the visas of an estimated 2.6 million people, the condition also affects people who don’t have a valid visa, perhaps because they made a mistake on their application, can’t afford the fees or missed a deadline. Overall, we think more than 3.2 million people are living without access to a safety net in the UK right now.

What are the impacts of No Recourse to Publics Funds?

Not everyone who has this condition applied to their visa will be living in poverty, or need access to government support. But the pandemic and the cost of living crisis both reminded us how important it is to have a safety net to fall back on.

This policy leaves thousands of people in our communities teetering on the brink of disaster. Key workers earning low incomes or people working zero-hours contracts have no buffer when the cost of living rises, or their hours get cut. Women facing abuse find themselves with nowhere to turn because refuges rely on government funding that excludes them. And anyone who is sick or has an accident that means they can’t work can be plunged into poverty because they can’t get the help the rest of us are entitled to.

We know that that, right now, over 100,000 people are at risk of deep poverty and have no access to this vital support. There is plenty of evidence that No Recourse to Public Funds pushes people into poverty and homelessness, and makes it very hard for them to escape.

61% of people in the Praxis community that we spoke to told us they had on occasion cut down on the size of meals or skipped them entirely because there was not enough food (October 2023). 82% said they are in arrears on at least one essential bill or payment such as water, internet, phone, or credit cards. This is dramatically higher than for other low-income households, where 34% are in debt for food or household bills (October 2023).

Who is affected by No Recourse to Public Funds?

Almost every migrant in the UK is affected. This includes people who have valid visas and those without - all are denied access to the social safety net. For example, those who have come here to study, work or join family, EU nationals coming to the UK from 2021 onwards, and people who have come to the UK seeking safety, but who have yet to receive a decision on their asylum application.

The policy targets migrant communities who are mostly communities of colour and further reinforces existing structural inequalities and patriarchal structures, disproportionately impacting single mothers, children of colour and people with disabilities. 

What are “public funds”?

The “public funds” in No Recourse to Public Funds refers to nearly all welfare benefits, including those designed to protect people from poverty and homelessness, like Universal Credit, child benefit or local housing allowance. These are all listed in the relevant legislation.

However, the policy is also used to deny lots of other types of support to people affected by it, beyond the specific benefits listed in the legislation. This includes things like cost of living payments for low-income households, as well as support with the costs of childcare for working parents.

When was this policy introduced?

Section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 prohibits people subject to immigration control from accessing a wide range of welfare benefits. However, the current policy of imposing the No Recourse to Public Funds condition on people with human rights cases was only introduced in July 2012. Before that, people with human rights-based cases could access public funds.

Can’t you apply to get the condition removed?

Some people can apply to the Home Office to get the No Recourse to Public Funds condition lifted from their visa. But it’s not an option for most people, as it’s only available to those with certain types of visa. It’s also very difficult to apply for without expert legal advice, which is in extremely short supply, and it can take months for the Home Office to process an application, leaving people facing destitution with no access to support.

Can’t people get support from their local council?

Most people can’t. Local authorities only have a duty to provide assistance to families with children and adults with care needs at risk of destitution. This means that pregnant women, many elderly people, and those whose disability or health condition does not meet the high threshold for significant care needs are left out.

In practice, even these groups can struggle to get the support they need because of lack of knowledge and the huge variance in practice across local authorities. A recent report found that the local authority support available is “dysfunctional and unable to provide adequate support for the increasing number of people facing destitution” (COMPAS, University of Oxford, May 2024).

What does the public think about No Recourse to Public Funds?

Almost half (48%) of the general public agree that people should have access to benefits if they need them, while just a third (33%) think they should not have access if they are migrants (polling carried out by YouGov, September 2022).

What needs to change?

Whether we are born here, grew up here or arrived recently, we all want to live with dignity – to feed our kids and heat our homes.

Here at Praxis, we campaign with the No Recourse to Public Funds Action Group to end this cruel policy entirely. Whilst we work towards this end, we also call for the following immediate changes now:

• Reduce the length of time people spend subject to No Recourse to Public Funds by cutting routes to settlement to five years maximum;

• Reduce the number of people subject to No Recourse to Public Funds by not applying it to anyone who is on a pathway to permanent residency, or any families with children;

Together, we’ve persuaded the Government to make changes to the No Recourse to Public Funds policy in the past, like when we helped secure access to Free School Meals for all children living in poverty, no matter their immigration status. We have the power to demand that this Government protects everyone living in our communities from poverty.