MPs call for cut in welfare delay to help legal immigrant children living in poverty

MPs are calling for a cut in welfare support waiting times for legal immigrant children who are living in poverty.

The latest report from the UK’s Work and Pensions Committee highlights how harmful a delay in welfare support can be for children.

MPs are calling for a reduction in safety net waiting times and have suggested that parents with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) should be given access to the welfare system after a maximum of five years.

They are also calling for an extension of free childcare entitlement and Child Benefit payments for children who are British citizens.

The report highlighted the difficult circumstances faced by a number of children living and working legally in the UK who have fallen on hard times, particularly during the pandemic, and who have no access to public funds due to their immigration status.

During its inquiry, the Committee heard how many such children have suffered from food poverty, homelessness or have been forced to live in overcrowded housing due to their parents being unable to access support.

As a result, the government is being called on to half the time families with children applying for indefinite leave to remain are subject to NRPF from ten to five years.

The committee has also recommended that parents receive Child Benefit where their children are British citizens.

Stephen Timms MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: “We have been moved by harrowing tales of parents and children being forced onto the streets and facing struggles to afford food and necessities, shut off from the help open to others who, like them, live and work legally in the UK.

“The devastating impacts of having no recourse to public funds hit home even harder during the pandemic.”

Just last month, and following feedback from the Committee, the UK government promised that free school meal eligibility would be permanently extended to children from all families with NRPF.

The government said last week that it has no need for a dedicated unit to tackle child poverty as its child poverty targets have been abolished.

This comes despite the fact that child poverty has risen rapidly in recent years, with 4.3 million children living in poverty prior to the pandemic.