An 8-year-old British boy – supported by his migrant mother – has today won a ruling that the policy denying families like his access to the welfare safety net is unlawful.
The decision by senior judges is expected to provide a lifeline to people unable to work during the Covid-19 pandemic who are currently blocked from accessing essential state support.
The judges in the case heard that the boy, known in court as W, has lived his entire life in extreme poverty because his mother’s wages as a carer are not enough for her to keep her son properly housed and fed.
Under the ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) policy introduced in 2012 by then Home Secretary Theresa May, W’s migrant mother is blocked from receiving the same state support that helps other low-earning parents to survive, including child and housing benefits, or tax credits.
The court heard that the 8-year-old had moved school five times and been street homeless with his mother, due to the Home Office’s refusal to allow them access to the social security safety net. The judges were also told that J, as his mother was known in court, had been driven into debt and suffered from serious anxiety.
The judges ruled that the NRPF policy breaches the Human Rights Act, which prohibits inhuman and degrading treatment. A detailed order is expected to follow, which will set out the steps the Home Office needs to take to comply with the judges’ ruling.
Since 2012, a ‘NRPF condition’ has been routinely imposed on all migrants granted the legal right to live and work in the UK (‘limited leave to remain’) on the basis of strong family ties to this country.
The high court challenge was supported by The Unity Project, a charity set up three years ago to support families facing destitution as a result of NRPF.
Project co-ordinator Caz Hattam says:
“Even before the pandemic, this policy was trapping working families in the most abject poverty, forcing them into debt, and unsafe, insecure housing. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, their situations have become even more dire and urgent. We provided extensive evidence of how children’s lives are being blighted by this policy, and we welcome the judges’ recognition that their families must be given access to the welfare safety net to prevent them from falling into destitution. We will continue to support those affected until we see real changes to the policy.”
Adam Hundt, partner at Deighton Pierce Glynn, the law firm bringing the case, says:
“We and many others have been telling the Home Office for years that this policy is causing immeasurable, irreversible damage to so many people, but particularly children like our client. The Home Office refused to listen and ignored all the evidence they were shown, so it has now been left to the courts to confront the truth, which is that the policy breaches human rights law.”
If you have NRPF and want more information about what this means for you, please contact us.