Ending destitution
Ending Destitution Together is a joint strategy between Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). It is the first of its kind in the UK.
It builds on an inquiry by the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities and Human rights Committee and its report: Hidden Lives - New Beginnings: Destitution, asylum and insecure immigration status in Scotland.
The strategy takes a preventative approach that aims to support people to resolve the issues they face before they reach a point of crisis.
It sets out an ambition to ensure the people living in communities across Scotland do not experience destitution because of their immigration status. It aims to prevent and mitigate destitution for people with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), who are not permitted under UK immigration rules to access most mainstream benefits, local authority housing or homelessness services.
Ending destitution strategy
- Ending Destitution Together 2021 to 2024
- Ending Destitution Together – year one progress report
- Ending Destitution Together – year two progress report
No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF)
Asylum and immigration, including No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) policy, are wholly reserved to the UK Parliament, and is handled solely by the Home Office.
NRPF is a standard visa condition and also applies to people seeking asylum and people with insecure immigration status.
Under Section 31 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999: defence against prosecution, people who do not have any immigration permission or whose visa comes with an additional NRPF condition are excluded from certain benefits as well as local authority housing and homeless services, preventing accommodation provision outside Home Office contracts.
People who have NRPF as a result of their immigration status, include people who are seeking asylum and international students. NRPF restrictions do not mean that people are unable to access any publicly funded support, however restricted public funds, as defined under Immigration Rules, include key safety nets such as the Scottish Welfare Fund, and most welfare benefits, as well as local authority housing and homelessness services. Therefore the use of qualifying benefits or the Scottish Welfare fund as a delivery mechanism for support is likely to exclude people who are subject to NRPF.