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Public Funds for Immigration purposes
Under UK immigration laws, access to certain public services is dependent on a person’s immigration status. This chapter provides details of what services are classed as ‘public funds’ for immigration purposes.
Later chapters provide information on how to identify whether a person has access to public funds and whether other forms of assistance may be available.
Key Facts
- The ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition prevents people from accessing most mainstream social security benefits, homelessness assistance and a local authority allocation of social housing, although there are some exceptions which may mean a particular benefit can be claimed by a person with NRPF.
- A person with NRPF is not prevented from accessing other publicly funded services, although their immigration status or length of residence may be a relevant factor in establishing entitlement to certain services.
- Local authorities have duties to safeguard the welfare of children, young people leaving care and vulnerable adults, which can include providing accommodation and financial support when a person has NRPF and is prevented from accessing mainstream benefits and social housing by their immigration status.
- Local authority staff working across all first points of contact should be aware of the support options that a person with NRPF may have, so that an appropriate referral can be made to the relevant social work team when a family or vulnerable adult is at risk of homelessness.
3.1 Social Security Benefits
The definition of a ‘public fund’ is set out in the Immigration Rules, and does not include all services provided by or funded by public bodies, but only specific benefits and some local authority housing provision. These are also set out in the Home Office policy document, ‘Modernised Guidance on Public Funds’ and are outlined here.16
The following benefits are classed as ‘public funds’ for immigration purposes:
- income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- income support
- child tax credit
- universal credit
- working tax credit
- a social fund payment including the Scottish Welfare Fund and a: budgeting
loan, sure start maternity grant, funeral payment, cold weather payment and
winter fuel payment - child benefit
- housing benefit
- council tax benefit
- council tax reduction
- domestic rate relief (Northern Ireland)
- state pension credit
- attendance allowance
- severe disablement allowance
- personal independence payment
- carer’s allowance
- disability living allowance
- an allocation of local authority housing
- local authority homelessness assistance
- child disability payment
- adult disability payment
- carers allowance supplement
- Scottish child payment
- funeral support payment
- job start payment
- child winter heating assistance
- winter heating assistance
A person with NRPF will be excluded from claiming the above benefits unless an exception applies.
The following exceptions mean that a person may be able to claim some of the benefits that are classed as public funds when they have leave to remain with NRPF without this affecting their immigration status:
- They are a national of a country that has a reciprocal arrangement with the UK, as listed in the Home Office guidance.
- They have a European Economic Area (EEA) national family member, including a British citizen, for example, a parent with leave to remain with NRPF who has a British child can claim child benefit.
- They make a joint claim for tax credits with a partner who has recourse to public funds, for example, a British citizen.
- They have indefinite leave to enter/remain as an adult dependent relative during the first five years they are in the UK (in which time they can claim non-means tested benefits).
If a person with NRPF is unsure about whether an exception applies, they should seek advice from a benefits adviser and an immigration adviser before making a claim.
A person who is lawfully present in the UK and has the NRPF condition may be able to claim the following benefits if they have been in work or have paid National Insurance contributions:
- contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance
- incapacity benefit
- retirement pension
- widow’s benefit and bereavement benefit
- guardian’s allowance
- statutory maternity pay
For further guidance on migrant rights and entitlements to social security benefits, local authority staff can contact the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) Advice Line for free,
confidential advice.
Scottish Social Security Benefits
In the past few years, a number of benefits have been devolved to Scotland, and these are administered by Social Security Scotland. Most of these benefits have been added to the Home Office ‘public funds’ list however the following Scottish social security benefits are available to people with NRPF.
The following Scottish social security benefits are accessible to people with NRPF:
- Best Start Foods – a pre-paid card from pregnancy up to when a child turns three for families on certain benefits to help buy healthy food. To be eligible, the applicant must (1) be responsible for at least one child under 3 who is a British citizen (not including pregnancies); (2) have a family income of £1954.80 or less a month after tax for a couple or £1652.25 or less a month after tax for a single adult, (3) not be able to claim public funds due to their immigration status or lack of immigration status, and (4) be resident in Scotland.
- Young Carer Grant – an annual payment of more than £359.65 for people 16, 17 or 18 who care for people who get a disability benefit from the DWP for an average of 16 hours a week or more. This can be accessed by people subject to the NRPF condition.
- Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment – one off payment of up to £707.25 from 24 weeks in pregnancy up until a baby turns 6 months for families who get certain benefits. Some under-18s with NRPF can access this benefit. For people over 18 with NRPF, they can access this only if a member of the household (a partner, for example) can prove they are in receipt of a qualifying benefit. This is also the case for the BSG Early Learning and School Age Payments.
The following Scottish social security benefits are accessible to people with NRPF only if a member of the household (a partner, for example) can prove they are in receipt of a
qualifying benefit:
- Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment – one off payment of £294.70 when a child is between two and three years and six months for families who get certain benefits.
- Best Start Grant School Age Payment – one off payment of £294.70 when a child would normally start primary one for families who get certain benefits.
- Funeral Support Payment – money towards the costs of a funeral at a difficult time like this for people on certain benefits who are responsible for paying for a funeral.
- Job Start Payment – £294.70 or £471.50 if the main carer of any children, for 16 to 24 year olds who have been on certain benefits for six months or more to help with the costs of starting a job.
The following Scottish social security benefits are not accessible to people with NRPF:
- Carer’s Allowance Supplement – an automatic payment made twice a year to
people who get Carer’s Allowance through the DWP on certain dates each
year. - Child Winter Heating Assistance – a £235.70 payment to help families of a
child or young person in receipt of the highest rate care component of
Disability Living Allowance for Children, enhanced rate of daily living
component of Personal Independence Payment, the highest rate of the care
component of Child Disability payment or the enhanced rate of daily living
component of Adult Disability payment, to help people on low income to meet
heating needs. - Scottish Child Payment – a new, unique to Scotland, benefit that gives
qualifying parents and carers £100 every four weeks to help towards the costs
of looking after each child under 16, for families who get certain qualifying
benefits. - Child Disability Payment – a payment providing extra money to help with the
costs of caring for a child with a disability or ill-health condition. It replaces
Disability Living Allowance for children in Scotland that was previously
delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions. - Adult Disability Payment – a payment providing extra money to help people
who have a long-term illness or a disability that affects their everyday life. It
replaces Personal Independence Payment people in Scotland previously
delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions. - Winter Heating Payment – a yearly payment of £55.05 to help people on low
income benefits who might have extra heating needs during the winter. To be
eligible an individual must be in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least one
day in the qualifying week.
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16 Home Office, Guidance: Public Funds, 25 January 2023.
3.2 Social Housing Allocation
If a non-EEA national requires leave to enter or remain in the UK they will not be eligible to make an application to the local authority’s mainstream housing allocations list for a social housing tenancy, unless they are in a particular class/group of people, including:
- Refugee
- Person with humanitarian protection
- Person with leave to remain granted outside of the Immigration Rules (this could also be referred to as discretionary leave to remain) when they do not have NRPF as a condition of their leave
- Person with Settled Status or some other form of indefinite leave to enter or remain who is habitually resident in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or
Channel Islands17 - Person with Pre-Settled Status, subject to being able to meet the right to reside test
- Person with leave to remain under the Ukraine Schemes
- Full-time student when certain circumstances apply
- Person with leave to remain under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016(‘Dubs leave’)18
The full list can be found in the Persons subject to Immigration Control (Housing Authority Accommodation and Homelessness) Order 2000.
A person with NRPF can be allocated a property by a housing association where they have housing need under the housing association’s allocation policy. They can apply for housing with a housing association either directly to the association or via a common housing register where this is in operation. If they obtain a tenancy in this way, then it will not be considered to be a public fund for immigration purposes. However, they will not be eligible to claim housing benefit, so may face difficulties meeting their rent payments if they are not able to work or have a low income.
However, when a person is allocated housing by a housing association where they have applied for housing to a local authority who then nominates them to a housing association under a nomination agreement, or to discharge homelessness duties, this would be a public fund for immigration purposes.
For more information, see:
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17 There is an exception to this rule: a person will be excluded if their indefinite leave to remain is subject to an undertaking that their sponsor will maintain and accommodate them, and they have been resident in the UK for less than five years or their sponsor has died.
18 Paragraph 118 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; the Persons subject to Immigration Control(Housing Authority Accommodation and Homelessness) Order 2000
3.3 Homelessness Assistance
If a person requires leave to enter or remain in the UK they will not be eligible to make a homelessness application or receive temporary homeless accommodation under part II of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, unless they are in a particular class/ group of people, including:
- Refugee
- Person with humanitarian protection
- Person with leave to remain granted outside of the Immigration Rules (this could be also referred to as discretionary leave to remain) when they do not have NRPF as a condition of their leave
- Person with Settled Status or some other form of indefinite leave to enter or remain who is habitually resident in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or Channel Islands19
- Person with Pre-Settled Status, subject to being able to meet the right toreside test
- Person with leave to remain under the Ukraine Schemes
- Person with leave to remain under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016(leave given to unaccompanied children who entered the UK under the ‘Dubs amendment’)
The full list can be found in the Persons subject to Immigration Control (Housing Authority Accommodation and Homelessness) Order 2000.
Duty to Accept Homelessness Applications
The Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 does not require the local authority to decide whether a person is eligible for homelessness assistance, but enquiries regarding this would need to be made in order to correctly apply the restrictions that are set out in immigration legislation (as above). A local authority should accept a homeless application if it believes that someone may be eligible and may be homeless.
Duty to Provide Temporary Accommodation
Temporary accommodation should be provided whilst the local authority investigates the application, which may include establishing the applicant’s immigration status. The local authority will need to decide on (1) whether the person is homeless and (2) whether they are intentionally homeless.
Prior to 29th November 2022, local authorities might also have considered whether the applicant had a local connection to the area; however these provisions of the Act have been suspended for all local authorities in Scotland (although not those in other parts of the UK).
A local authority can make charges for temporary accommodation. Such charges must be reasonable and may be subject to challenge by a homeless person. Where a local authority decides to refer the person to another local authority area, accommodation should be provided until such time as the referral to the other local authority area has been finally decided between the two local authorities.
Normally, there is an ongoing duty to provide temporary accommodation whilst the local authority reviews its decision on a homeless application at the request of the person. However,
some people can only be provided with temporary homeless accommodation whilst their review is being decided, where this is necessary to prevent a breach of their human rights.
For more on local authority duties to accept applications and provide temporary accommodation, refer to the Scottish Government’s Homelessness Code of Guidance.
Mixed Households
Special rules apply to homelessness applications from a ‘mixed’ household, for example, where the applicant is eligible, but their partner and/or children are ineligible.
There is a difference in how a homeless application should be treated, depending on whether the main applicant is eligible because they are a person who does not require leave to enter or remain in the UK (a ‘restricted case’ scenario), or is eligible because they are a person who does require leave to enter or remain in the UK and is in one of the classes of persons specified above, for example, they have refugee status. This is a complex area and specialist advice may need to be taken.
Where the eligible applicant has members of the family who are ineligible (because they do not fall within one of the classes of persons specified above), the local authority may be limited in the assistance that can be provided to the whole family, depending on the reason why the applicant is eligible.
A ‘restricted case’ scenario applies when the main applicant is eligible on the basis that they are a person who does not require leave to enter or remain in the UK, but their family members are ineligible. A restricted case is typically a case where ‘but for’ the person who is ineligible being part of the household, the applicant would not be homeless. For example, if a person is homeless because their accommodation has become overcrowded due to a person, who is ineligible, joining the household, the reason for their homelessness (overcrowded accommodation) would not have arisen but for the presence of the ineligible person. The local authority would require to take this into account and may offer accommodation in the private rented sector. Where the person who is ineligible has no bearing on the homeless application, this shouldn’t result in the homeless application being treated any differently.
In instances where the local authority can assist the household as a whole, then the housing officer may need to signpost any members who have leave to remain with the NRPF condition to a legal adviser to find out whether accessing homelessness assistance would cause them to be in breach of their immigration conditions.
Where the main applicant is a person who requires leave to enter or remain in the UK and is in one of the classes of persons specified above, the local authority can disregard the ineligible persons in the household. This may mean, for example, that an eligible applicant applying as homeless because the ‘mixed’ household are living in overcrowded accommodation, may be found not to be homeless, because the ineligible family members are disregarded.
When an entire family are ineligible for homelessness assistance, then a referral to social services for a Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) assessment should be made to establish whether duties under section22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 arise.
For more information, see:
- 2.1 Common types of immigration status
- 6.4 Establishing immigration status
- 7 Social services’ support – exclusion
- 15 EEA nationals and family members
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19 There is an exception to this rule: a person will be excluded if their indefinite leave to remain is subject to an undertaking that their sponsor will maintain and accommodate them, and they have been resident in the UK for less than five years or their sponsor has died.