In May 2020, the High Court ruled that part of the NRPF policy breaches human rights.
The full judgment was given on 21st May and is available here.
We have recorded a 90 minute video-webinar discussing the judgment here.
As a result of the court ruling, the government updated its policy guidance on 29th May.
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The new policy is here.
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You can see a side-by-side comparison of the new guidance (updated 3.6.20) and a previous version of the guidance (10.12.19) here.
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One of the main changes is that it now makes clear people can apply for recourse to public funds if they are ‘likely to become destitute’ (i.e. before any financial difficulties or crisis, rather than having to wait until they are already in that situation).
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There is an article from Free Movement outlining this and other changes here. Please contact us if you would like any more detail.
We will continue to monitor what difference this policy change is making through our casework, and we expect to bring further legal challenges if things don’t become much better very soon. Meanwhile, we continue to work with other organisations and affected individuals to lobby the government to scrap or at least in the meantime improve the NRPF policy.
If you are affected by the court ruling, please click here to read more about what this might mean for you.