Submissions

The government has established a new child poverty taskforce to develop a strategy to tackle child poverty in the UK. In a policy paper about forming the strategy, the UK government states that it aims to bring about 'an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, as part of a 10-year Strategy for lasting change'.

We submitted written evidence to the child poverty unit to demonstrate that children within families that have no recourse to public funds can experience deep poverty and destitution as a result of immigration restrictions, and that councils play a significant role in alleviating this by providing accommodation and financial support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, and equivalent legislation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We also make a number of policy solutions that could increase household incomes and improve financial resilience for families with no recourse to public funds, and would ensure that councils are better assisted by government to effectively safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are experiencing deep poverty or destitution.

Read our evidence submission (pdf). 

The Education Committee has reopened its inquiry into children's social care in England, which began before the last general election. The scope of the inquiry is broad and includes examining factors that are causing the increase in demand for children’s social care, the reasons behind the rising cost of children’s social care for local authorities, and ways to mitigate rising costs. 

In January 2024, we submitted evidence to demonstrate that immigration restrictions preventing people from accessing benefits and local authority housing assistance leads to a demand for child in need services, specifically accommodation and financial support provided under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, and that this results in additional unfunded costs for councils. We recommended that the government can mitigate this pressure on social care budgets, and more effectively safeguard and promote the welfare of children, by providing funding to councils and by addressing policies and immigration processes that can cause destitution and lead to families being supported by children's social care on a long-term basis. We updated our evidence in January 2025, as our recent data shows that the need for such support to alleviate homelessness and destitution is increasing and the costs to children's social care of meeting this need are also increasing. 

Read our original evidence. 

Read our updated evidence. 

In July 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care consulted on the eligibility criteria for the Healthy Start scheme.

Currently, families with no recourse to public funds can only access the scheme if they have a British child or a partner who is in receipt of a qualifying benefit. We submitted that the current eligibility rules discriminate against single parent families and that opening up the scheme to all pregnant women and families, regardless of immigration status would help to reduce child poverty, promote the well-being of children and minimise the impact of financial insecurity often experienced by people with no recourse to public funds. 

Read our response to the consultation (pdf).