Working to fix the hidden rule that denies millions a safety net.
Millions of people in the UK are working, paying taxes, contributing to their communities - often for years, even decades, before they can settle here permanently. But when life takes a turn, they’re left with nothing to fall back on. No benefits. No housing support. No help.
The reason is a little-known rule called No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). It means millions of people pay into a system designed to protect everyone, but are shut out when they need it most.
We’re working to change that. We’re the NRPF Partnership - a coalition of organisations working to scrap this rule and fix a system that isn’t working.
The problem
Under NRPF, if you lose your job, fall ill, or need to leave an abusive partner, you cannot rely on the state safety net that everyone else has access to when they need it. No matter how long you've lived here or how much tax you've paid.
Today, around 2.6 million people are on visas with NRPF – roughly the population of Greater Manchester.
That includes care workers looking after elderly people, midwives delivering babies, and parents whose children were born here and have never known another country. Some estimates put the figure of those impacted by NRPF even higher, closer to 4 million.
About the NRPF Partnership
Lots of organisations are already working hard to fix NRPF. What's been missing is a way to work together across sectors without duplicating effort or competing for the same funding. That's what this partnership was created for. We work on three principles:
Dedicated funding helps us be both strategic and responsive
Funders contribute to a pooled fund, and the steering group decides how it's spent. That allows us to act strategically, and move fast when we need to.
More people, more power
The partnership brings together organisations from across sectors where NRPF has a damaging impact – from housing, to domestic violence, to child poverty – so the call for reform comes from every direction, not just one.
The people closest to the issue set the direction
The partnership is governed by a steering group of experts, most of whom are people with direct lived experience of NRPF. They decide the strategy.
What we've achieved
Over 500 people took NRPF to Parliament's door.
In our biggest action to date, constituents met over 100 MPs face to face to raise concerns about the ‘earned settlement’ proposals — and we're tracking how those conversations are shifting political opinion.
We've made the link between NRPF and child poverty impossible to ignore.
NRPF is now named in the government's Child Poverty Strategy, and our commissioned research, and 24 MPs have signed our Early Day Motion on NRPF and child poverty.
We're funding 13 groups led by people with lived experience of NRPF.
From grassroots projects to shared learning, we're ensuring the people most affected are at the heart of the movement for change.
Get involved
If your organisation works with people affected by NRPF, there's a role for you in this partnership.
Latest updates
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Partner organisations
