Item 8 - Addressing issues related to No Recourse to Public Funds to support work to combat homelessness and tackle domestic violence

Summary 
The Priority 3 strand of the 2017-21 Grants Programme, which completed delivery at the end of June 2019, will under-deliver against the original targets set. The programme is projected to create an underspend of £1,019,000, which will be returned to the Grants Programme.
At the July 2019 AGM, Grants Committee members requested information about the supply and demand for immigration advice following a discussion about options for redeploying the Priority 3 underspend to reduce the impact of No Recourse to Public Funds on individuals and boroughs.
This paper sets out known information about supply and demand for immigration advice in London and the impact on boroughs of No Recourse to Public Funds and sets out a proposal to deploy the Priority 3 underspend with existing Priority 1 and 2 grant holders.
Saira Grant (solicitor and research consultant, and formally the  Chief Executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants) has been working with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to better understand the demand for immigration advise services; her work, which will be published in January 20202, has informed this report. Ms Grant will be presenting the findings from her research to Grants Committee, along with information about the pressures that London faces regarding immigration advice.
 
Recommendations 
Grants Committee is recommended to:
- agree that £1,019,000 Priority 3 underspend is used to increase Priority 1 and 2 grants for the sole purpose of increasing immigration advice for service users with No Recourse to Public Funds.
- agree that the terms of the funding agreements with current Priority 1 and Priority 2 partners are re-negotiated to include the provision of immigration advice services, through appropriately qualified organisations,  for users with No Recourse to Public Funds; these terms to be negotiated and agreed with the Director responsible for the Grants Programme
- agree that the grant values agreed with current Priority 1 and Priority 2 partners are increased, where appropriate, and in line with renegotiated terms to enable the provision of immigration advice services to users with No Recourse to Public Funds; these grant values to be negotiated and agreed with the Director responsible for the Grants Programme.
- to provide some oversight and scrutiny, agree that negotiated terms are discussed with the Chair and Vice Chairs of the Grants Committee prior to sign-off.
 

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