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<p>I would firstly like to address the use of the term ‘hostile environment’ in the
honourable Member’s question. This language does not reflect Government policy or
our values.</p><p> </p><p>The UK’s measures on access to work, benefits and services
have been introduced by successive governments over many years, and these are consistent
with legislative frameworks operated by most other comparable countries. The principle
of No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) forms part of that framework and was established
as far back as 1971 and is a condition that is applied to those staying here with
a temporary immigration status.</p><p> </p><p>Our review of the NRPF measure forms
part of the Home Office’s full evaluation of its compliant environment policies and
measures, both individually and cumulatively. This was set out in “Response to the
Windrush Lessons Learned Review: a comprehensive improvement plan”, published in 2020.
As part of our ongoing review, we also systematically revisit our Equality Impact
Assessments, including relating to NRPF, to ensure that policies remain in accordance
with our Public Sector Equality Duties.</p><p> </p><p>The Home Office has also set
up a national NRPF stakeholder forum to gather information on actual and potential
impacts of its NRPF policy. The group meets on a quarterly basis and comprises representatives
from central government, local government authorities across the four UK nations,
the NRPF Network, and other third sector organisations with a specific interest in
the subject. Where appropriate, the trends, emerging issues, and evidence gathered
from this forum will be used to inform policy development in this area.</p><p> </p><p>We
continue to seek alternative means to secure more NRPF-related data in order to understand
who might be impacted by the policy as well as looking at improving the quality and
availability of data on protected characteristics.</p><p> </p><p>On 31 August we provided
the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) with an update on the progress of the review
of the compliant environment. A copy of the letter can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/7162/documents/75657/default/&data=04%7c01%7cSid.Stratton%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7c2f84fa18f07649520d5a08d9b64c7fe0%7cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7c0%7c0%7c637741261932585722%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=c%2BMhlwE1zaJvonoqmNje/MzftPfbrpQkkVA2le44URI%3D&reserved=0"
target="_blank">https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/7162/documents/75657/default/</a></p>
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