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Analysis and recommendations informed by data of households with no recourse to public funds supported by councils in the financial year 2021-2022.
NRPF Connect is the national database for councils to record details of households with no recourse to public funds that are being provided with accommodation and/or financial support by social services.
This report is based on an analysis of the collective data provided by 72 councils that were using the database during the financial year 2021-2022.
The data continues to demonstrate that councils in England and Scotland play an essential role in safeguarding the welfare of destitute families, care leavers and adults with care needs, who are excluded from mainstream benefits due to their immigration status. As in 2020-2021, the data reflects the significant financial impact on councils when providing required financial support to people who do not have access to benefits and who also have complex immigration cases that need to be resolved. Routes out-of-support are being achieved through specialist casework interventions, with many people obtaining leave to remain, but the time taken to achieve this outcome is increasing.
The 2021-2022 data report presents the headline figures nationally and regionally with an analysis of the trends. Recommendations to help reduce cost pressures on local government and to improve service planning are informed by the current dataset and build on the recommendations made following the 2020-2021 data report.
Supported households and costs
3423 households with no recourse to public funds were provided with accommodation and financial support by 72 councils at a collective annual cost of £64 million.
The 3423 households comprised of:
Referrals/requests for support
Time on support
Reasons for case closure/ exiting support
Of the 1210 family households that had their support withdrawn and case closed:
Of the 355 adult households that had their support withdrawn and case closed:
The overall increase in caseload that was seen in 2020-2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic was not repeated in 2021-2022; the number of referrals remained comparable and a marginal reduction (1%) in the total number of family households was achieved. Data comparisons at a national level reveal a diverse caseload in terms of people’s immigration status and that different areas of the UK face different challenges dependant on the immigration status of the people they support. There is also variability between local authorities’ use of the database and a likelihood that reported costs would be higher should more councils use NRPF Connect to record caseloads.
Despite a period of relative stability in 2021-2022, the overall financial burden of accommodation and subsistence provision for local authorities remains significant and will not abate as the cost-of-living crisis takes hold and presentations from people at risk of homelessness and / or destitution continue. Challenges within the asylum support system relating to delayed decision-making and use of large-scale contingency accommodation may also increase referrals locally or divert Home Office resources away from the resolution of local authority supported cases.
In 2021-2022, people with a European Economic Area (EEA) status or EEA nationality became the largest group referred to councils for assistance and the proportion in receipt of financial support has also risen. The absence of automatic entitlement to benefits for vulnerable EEA nationals with ‘pre-settled’ status under the EU Settlement Scheme leads to unavoidable accommodation and subsistence costs when safeguarding duties to alleviate destitution are engaged. As predicted by the NRPF Network in 2020-2021, commitments made by the UK Government to protect the future rights of EEA citizens are not translating into protections for very vulnerable groups, with councils absorbing the cost.
Families with Leave to Remain (LTR) with NRPF again represented a significant percentage of the total number of referrals to children’s services (18%). The fact that a smaller percentage (9%) of families with LTR with NRPF remained in receipt of financial support at year-end can be attributed to the ‘change of condition’ process that, in some cases, enables a route to benefits. Destitute families – usually on a 10-year route to settlement and often caring for British citizen children - continue to be referred to social services, a regrettable symptom of hardships faced by families excluded from the basic protection of welfare assistance.
Quite apart from working with people who have no immigration status in the UK, considerable effort, time and resource are spent responding to the needs of people lawfully present in the UK. Difficulties arise because of the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition, but also on account of administrative difficulties faced when renewing a form of temporary leave granted, which may explain the 22% referral rate for families who already had Leave to Remain ‘with recourse’.
The average time (in days) that adult and family cases remained on local authority support was higher at the end of 2021-2022 than at the end of the previous financial year. The proportion of households who had been receiving support for longer than 1000 days and are ‘unresolved’ remained at 35% for adult cases and 17% for families. Even when people are assisted to access immigration advice and submit applications to the Home Office, it can take time for such cases to be decided by the Home Office or in the courts.
Most families (83%) and adults (60%) exited support due to a grant of Leave to Remain or change in immigration status granting recourse to public funds (i.e. benefits and housing), with the numbers returning to their country of origin or leaving the UK remaining low. Despite many households being in ‘breach of immigration law’ and caught by the exclusions to support under Schedule 3 Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, continued assistance from councils will be necessary whilst applications made to the Home Office are being determined.
Whereas the number of families and adults with care and support needs being recorded on NRPF Connect remained relatively constant over the year, the number of looked-after children and care leavers added to the database significantly increased. As councils work to support increasing numbers of children and care leavers through the immigration or asylum process and face long waits for asylum decisions, numbers of cases recorded on NRPF Connect will remain high.
Over the course of 2021-2022, the Home Office responded to over 15,000 requests for status information and updates / changes of circumstances. Following the recommendations made in 2020-2021, the staffing establishment of the Home Office team operating NRPF Connect was increased and this has been a positive step towards achieving Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliant response-times. Informed and expedited information about immigration status remains essential to the effective delivery of council services and helps inform case-work practice to resolve cases.
The recommendations for government made following the 2020-2021 data report focus on practical steps that can be taken to ease pressures on local authorities and are made in addition to the calls for change made in 2021.
1. Reimburse councils when providing financial support to vulnerable people with ‘pre-settled status’ or deliver a mechanism whereby adults who require additional support due to age, illness or disabilities can apply for settled status before 5 years of residency is achieved.
The legality of the UK’s position that pre-settled status holders with no other qualifying right to reside (such as worker, self-employed, student) cannot access Universal Credit has been confirmed by the Supreme Court in Fratila (and others) v the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Councils must now be reimbursed for the cost-shunt caused when statutory safeguarding interventions for people with ‘pre-settled status’ necessitate accommodation and subsistence provision to prevent homelessness and / or destitution. In some cases, people may never achieve a ‘qualifying right’ for benefit purposes and will be reliant on council support until 5-years’ residency has been reached; solutions to relieve financial pressures for councils must be found.
2. Ensure future residency rights are fully protected under the EU Settlement Scheme including when people need to upgrade from ‘pre-settled’ to ‘settled’ status after 5 years’ residency in the UK.
Pressures are being created for councils because of changes to EEA residency rights following the UK’s departure from the European Union. EEA citizens may now be subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition and are at risk of being deemed in breach of immigration law if staying without the correct permissions. Referrals will also be driven by people who are making applications under the EU Settlement Scheme but may not have an entitlement to benefits whilst the application is made or being decided. The government must take action to ensure that people with pre-settled status obtain Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and do not end-up in breach of immigration law thereby adding to existing demand for council interventions.
3. Deliver an exceptional case-resolution response for the 1000-day cases and for adults with complex care and support needs where return to country of origin cannot be achieved.
Raised in 2020-2021, the NRPF Network again calls for exceptional casework responses to resolve long-standing and exceptional cases and to reduce the duration of time-on-support per-household, the following is required:
4. The government must renew its commitment to support local authorities in this area of practice and invest in the casework responses that help move cases to a conclusion whilst not creating new NRPF categories.
The NRPF Network welcomes the action taken to stabilise the staffing establishment of the NRPF Connect team and other measures to help local authorities manage caseloads, but without policy and funding changes pressures for councils will grow and Home Office resourcing of this response must keep pace.
Following the introduction of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, councils also urge the government not to implement changes that would increase use of the NRPF condition or create new administrative complexities for the Home Office. It is important instead to focus on clearing current decision-making backlogs at a time when costs for councils because of the NRPF condition remain high.
Even when people are granted a form of immigration status that permits recourse to public funds, delays transitioning to benefits can be encountered as a result of people not having a National Insurance number, a matter also raised in 2021. The NRPF Network recommends that the government ensures that National Insurance numbers are issued to people who require this them immediately when leave to remain is granted.
5. Widen access to discretionary support measures that help people cope with the cost-of-living crisis and other emergencies, so that people with NRPF are not more disadvantaged than other low-income households.
The data reported on NRPF Connect reflects the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of need in communities, with referrals to social services only generated when all other community support is exhausted and crisis point is reached. Extending free school meal entitlement to all low-income households and ensuring access to 15 hours per week free childcare for all disadvantaged two-year-olds are welcome developments. Too often, however, access to other government initiatives to ease pressures are still being determined by whether people can access means-tested benefits.
The government should continue the work started in 2021 by removing discretionary welfare payments administered by councils from the list of public funds and to support the fair distribution of government grants to all disadvantaged residents. Other relief measures that are not public funds, such as the Warm Homes Discount Scheme, should be made available to people who cannot access means-tested benefits but are nevertheless on low income.
The recommendations for local government made following the 2020-2021 data report remain valid today and should be implemented. The following supplementary recommendations are made:
Overall costs and households receiving support (as of 31 March 2022)
72 councils in England and Scotland were providing 3423 households with accommodation and/or financial support at a collective annual cost of £64 million.
The 3423 households comprised of:
From the end of quarter 1 to the end of quarter 4, the total number of households receiving financial support increased by 0.44%, a minimal increase compared to the 17% recorded over the same period in 2020-2021.
Of the 1576 family households with immigration status recorded:
Analysis of immigration status for families (above) is based on the status of the lead adult for the household but recorded nationality for dependants indicates that 26% of all family households are caring for at least one child who is British.
Of the 782 adult households with immigration status recorded:
Referrals (April 2021 – March 2022)
5781 households requesting or referred for support were added to the database during the year, compared to 5758 in 2020-2021.
The 5781 households comprised of:
25% of family households that were referred for support had a European Economic Area (EEA) status recorded or had EEA nationality, 23% had no current immigration status and 18% had a form of leave to remain that was subject to the NRPF Condition. 24% of family households referred had at least one child who is recorded as British.
35% of adult households that were referred for support has a European Economic Area (EEA) status recorded or had EEA nationality, 25% of adult households that were referred for support had no current immigration status.
2021-2022 is the first year in which people with an EEA status recorded or have EEA nationality comprise the largest proportion of households being referred for support or assistance.
Time on support and closure reasons (open cases as of 31 March 2022 )
The average number of days that a family household was supported for was 598 days (up from 589 days in 2020-21).
The average number of days that an adult household was supported for was 993 days (up from 911 days in 2020-21).
A household that remains in receipt of accommodation and subsistence support is classed as ‘unresolved’ where a parent or adult does not have an EEA status or nationality and has no current immigration permission or has leave to remain subject to the NRPF condition. The following proportions of ‘unresolved’ households received support for longer than 1000 days:
Of the 1210 family households that had their support withdrawn and case closed:
Of the 355 adult households that had their support withdrawn and case closed:
Looked after children and care leavers (31 March 2022)
2958 looked after children and care leavers were recorded on the database by 33 councils, with 938 recorded as being in receipt of accommodation and/or financial support.
The number of looked after children and care leavers recorded on the database increased by 15% from 2579 at the end of Q1 to 2958 by the year end, matching the percentage increase reported in 2020-2021.
Of the 2885 looked after children and care leavers with immigration status recorded:
Home Office responses (April 2021 – March 2022)
The Home Office responded to 15,250 requests for immigration status information, comprising of:
Target response times are set out in the Service Level Agreement (SLA). The Home Office is expected to respond to a notification of a new household in 5 working days and a query raised by the council user in 10 working days. Increased staffing within the Home Office team operating NRPF Connect is welcome and is having a positive impact on achieving the SLA. It is expected that response times will continue to improve as new staff are trained and embedded into the role.
Number of users and training
Each month approximately 500 users of the system update records and manage cases on NRPF Connect.
In 2021-2022 training sessions were arranged for 295 members of staff as part of the NRPF Network’s training offer of which 245 (83% of those booked) attended and successfully completed the tutorial.
The 2021-2022 data from NRPF Connect has been provided on a regional and national basis in order to demonstrate cost pressures at a local level and to help inform strategic planning and service development.