No Recourse to Social Work? Statutory Neglect, Social Exclusion and Undocumented Migrant Families in the UK

Abstract

Families in the UK with an irregular migration status are excluded from most mainstream welfare provision through the no recourse to public funds rule, and statutory children’s social work services are one of the few welfare services available to undocumented migrant families. This article draws on semi-structured interviews with undocumented migrant families who are accessing children’s services support to illustrate the sometimes uneasy relationship between child welfare law and immigration control. Outlining the legislative and policy context for social work with undocumented migrant families in the UK, the article argues that the exclusion of migrant families from the welfare state by government policy amounts to a form of statutory neglect which is incompatible with the global social work profession’s commitment to social justice and human rights.

Statutory neglect and care in a pandemic

“…An editorial in the Guardian newspaper described the UK government's approach to care homes as 'culpable neglect' arguing that although the government knew of the risk to older adults, it did not put policies in place to protect the care sector (The Guardian, 2020). The concept of 'statutory neglect' (Jolly, 2018) is one way of understanding the kind of abandonment or neglect as a matter of policy illustrated by the above examples. Statutory neglect describes a situation where people have experiences resulting from exclusionary policies or legislation which would be considered as neglectful if caused by a parent or carer.…”

“…The concept of ‘statutory neglect’ (Jolly, 2018) is one way of understanding the kind of abandonment or neglect as a matter of policy illustrated by the above examples. Statutory neglect describes a situation where people have experiences resulting from exclusionary policies or legislation which would be considered as neglectful if caused by a parent or carer.…”

Local Authority responses to people with NRPF during the pandemic

“…There is increasing evidence that those with NRPF face high levels of social exclusion and were unable to access welfare support even prior to the pandemic (Farmer, 2017;Jolly, 2018;Dickson, 2019, Pinter, I., Compton, Parhar & Majid, 2020, but more research is needed to understand how the current crisis is affecting people who are subject to the NRPF condition.…”

From the Windrush Generation to the ‘Air Jamaica generation’: local authority support for families with no recourse to public funds

“…However, there has been less discussion of the rights of the next generation of migrants who came to the UK from the Commonwealth after the Immigration Act 1971. Often from the same Caribbean countries as the Windrush Generation (Price and Spencer, 2015;Jolly, 2018), they could be described as the 'Air Jamaica generation' after the former national carrier's regular flights from Kingston's Norman Manley Airport to London Heathrow between 1974 and2007. In contrast to those migrating to the UK in the immediate post war period, families in the post-Windrush era came not as British passport holders but were 'subject to immigration control', with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) and the risk of becoming undocumented if they overstayed the length of their visa.…”