UK Statistics Authority urges Home Office to provide data on number of people who have been given leave to remain in UK subject to ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition

Chair of UK Statistics Authority agrees with Work and Pensions Committee Chair that Home Office reasons for refusing to provide data are 'confusing and unclear'

The UK Statistics Authority has urged the Home Office to provide data on the number of people who have been given leave to remain in the UK subject to a 'no recourse to public funds' (NRPF) condition.

Responding yesterday to a letter from Work and Pensions Committee Chair Stephen Timms concerning a written response to a parliamentary question - in which the Home Office said it was unable to provide data on the number of people subject to the NRPF condition in 2019 because 'the information you have requested is not assured to the standard required by [the Office for National Statistics] for publication' - Chair of the UK Statistics Authority Sir David Norgrove says that he agrees that the response was 'confusing and unclear' about why the data could not be provided, and comments that -

'The application of the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition to those staying in the UK has been a significant focus of attention in past months yet data and statistics to inform the discussion are lacking.'

Sir David goes on to confirm that the Office for Statistics Regulation has contacted the Home Office’s Head of Profession for Statistics, who is investigating how good quality statistics can be developed, and that -

'In the meantime we would urge the Home Office to look to publish estimates, while recognising that these will have larger margins of error. This would be acceptable under the Code of Practice for Statistics provided the uncertainties were described appropriately.'

NB - responding on 5 June 2020 to a letter from Mr Timms asking him to consider lifting the NRPF condition during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the public interest in migrants being financially independent is 'long established', and that Home Secretary Priti Patel will be responding separately about the total number of people currently subject to NRPF and the number who have applied to have the condition lifted in the last year.

Sir David's letter to Mr Timms is available from statisticsauthority.gov.uk