client is allowed to work in UK, but no recourse to public funds. Is he entitled to Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit? Is very low waged.

What are public funds?

‘Public funds’ include a range of income
related benefits, together with housing and
homelessness support. The full list is as follows:

• income-based jobseeker’s allowance
• income support
• child tax credit
• working tax credit
• a social fund payment
• child benefit
• housing benefit
• council tax benefit
• state pension credit
• attendance allowance
• severe disablement allowance
• carer’s allowance
• disability living allowance
• an allocation of local authority housing
• local authority homelessness assistance

Taken from http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/6353/11464/publicfunds.pdf

These ones are a bit tricky. Strictly speaking the "no recourse to public funds" is a condition of client's grant of leave to enter or remain.

It only effects his entitlement to benefit in the following way:

1. Sec 115(9) of Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 gives a definition of "persons subject to immigration control" which includes someone who "has no recourse to public funds".

2. Sec 115(1)(j) then prevents a person subject to immigration control from getting benefits.

3. However, there are exceptions to that exclusion provided for by Sec 115(3) and (4) and the regulations made thereunder. These include Social Security (Immigration and Asylum) Consequential Amendments Regulations 2000 (in particular Part 1 of the Schedule to that). The most likely provision that could apply there is if your client is Turkish (then can use para 4 of that part) or if supply of funds from abroad temporarily interrupted.

If a claim for HB is allowed under these regulations then it does not count as recourse to public funds.

The risk you run is not so much that he will be turned down for HB but that the LA will pass info on the IND: I don't know how often they do this but DWP does sometimes share information with them. It isn't very likely he'd be deported, but if he is hoping to extend his leave it could be a problem.

Mind you, unless LAs are better at immigration law than the DWP I wouldn't worry too much. DWP think that a Commonwealth citizen with the right of abode has no recourse to public funds...

If someone is entitled to claim benefits under the regulations to which I referred then this is not counted as recourse to public funds by IND and consequently cannot effect their immigration status-

This is because paragraph 6B of the Immigration Rules provides-

'A person shall not be regarded as having recourse to public funds if he is a person who is not excluded from specified benefits under section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 by virtue of regulations made under sub-sections (3) and (4) of that section or section 42 of the Tax Credits Act 2002.'


MArtin