Immigration Act 2016 changes to asylum and local authority support

N ET WO R K No Rec ou rs e t o P ubli c F und s

The UK government intends to reduce the availability of Home Office support for people seeking asylum who become appeal rights exhausted (ARE) and change the legislative basis under which councils in England can provide support to families and care leavers without lawful status, including those who become ARE after an unsuccessful asylum claim.

The changes to Home Office and local authority support are already legislated for in schedules 11 and 12 of the Immigration Act 2016 (IA 2016), respectively. Further detail as to how the government intends to implement these provisions is set out in the consultation: Family Returns: Reforming Asylum Support and Enforcing Family Returns (pdf).

These provisions are not yet in force and it is unclear exactly when they will be implemented, as some operational details are subject to consultation.

This guidance provides councils with information about the changes as we understand them, what aspects are being consulted on, and the likely implications for local government. We will keep this guidance updated to reflect ongoing developments.

1.1 Summary of changes

1.1.1 Overview of IA 2016 measures

The changes to asylum support are likely to result in:

  • Reduced availability of Home Office support for appeal rights exhausted (ARE) asylum-seekers (adults and families)
  • The transfer of responsibility for supporting some ARE asylum-seeking families from the Home Office to local government (and health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland)

The changes to local authority support for families and care leavers will require councils in England to:

  • Operate a two-tier system by providing accommodation and financial support to families without lawful status under a new legislative framework set by the Home Office, rather than under child welfare legislation
  • Provide some care leavers (aged 18+) who become ARE without lawful status with ongoing support under existing leaving care legislation and others with more limited support under a new legislative framework set by the Home Office
  • Withdraw all leaving care assistance and support from care leavers (aged 18+) at the point they become ARE where the young person can access Home Office support on the basis of having a ‘genuine obstacle to leaving the UK’

Councils in England will also be prohibited from funding higher education course fees for some care leavers.

1.1.2 Home Office asylum support (UK wide)

Asylum-seeking families with a child under 18 will have their section 95 support withdrawn 90 days after becoming appeal rights exhausted.

Section 4 asylum support will be abolished and replaced by section 95A support.

Section 95A asylum support will only be available when a person or family can establish that they have a genuine obstacle to leaving the UK within 21 days (for adults) or 90 days (for families) of becoming appeal rights exhausted.

A person who makes further submissions for a fresh asylum claim that are still pending after a set period, or who has been granted permission to apply for a judicial review of a decision to refuse their further submissions, will be able to access section 95 support any time after becoming appeal rights exhausted.

For more information about the asylum support changes, see chapter 2.

1.1.3 Local authority support for families (England)

Councils will be required to provide accommodation and financial support to families without lawful status when they meet criteria under a new legal framework set by the Home Office, rather than under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (‘section 17’): paragraph 10A of schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (‘paragraph 10A’).

Paragraph 10A support can be provided when a family is destitute and:

  • Has an outstanding article 8 (family or private life) application or appeal
  • Is cooperating with arrangements to leave the UK, or
  • When it is necessary to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child (as determined in line with regulations and Home Office guidance

Under section 17, councils can meet a child’s additional welfare needs that are not related to destitution and can continue to provide accommodation and financial support to families with leave to remain.

For more information about the changes to local authority support, see chapter 3.

1.1.4 Local authority support for care leavers (England)

When a care leaver (aged 18+) becomes ARE, or is otherwise without lawful status, councils can only provide ongoing leaving care support under the Children Act if the young person has:

  • Made further submissions for a fresh asylum claim that are still pending after a set period
  • Been granted permission to apply for a judicial review of a decision to refuse their further submissions
  • A pending first article 8 application or appeal against the refusal of a first article 8 application

If the young person does not qualify for ongoing leaving care support and assistance, they may be able to access accommodation and financial support from:

  • The Home Office if they meet the criteria for section 95A asylum support
  • The local authority when they meet criteria specified under a new legislative framework set by the Home Office: paragraph 10B of Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (‘paragraph 10B’)

Paragraph 10B support can be provided when the young person is destitute and:

  • Has an outstanding article 8 (family or private life) application or appeal, or
  • The local authority is ‘satisfied that that support needs to be provided’ (as determined in line with regulations and Home Office guidance)

The local authority will also be required to ‘keep in touch’ with a young person who is supported under paragraph 10B with a view to supporting the young person’s return.

Councils will be prevented from funding tuition fees for a young person who is receiving leaving care support and assistance under the Children Act when they have:

  • Limited leave to enter or remain
  • A pending application for leave to remain
  • A pending asylum claim or appeal
  • Pending further submissions that have not been determined within a set period, or a pending judicial review against the refusal of further submissions

For more information about the changes to local authority support, see chapter 4.

1.2 What will not change

1.2.1 UK wide

Section 95 support will continue to be provided by the Home Office to destitute adults and families whilst their initial asylum claim or appeal is pending.

Adults with care needs who are without lawful status in the UK will continue to be supported under relevant social care legislation, subject to there being a barrier to return, as established through a human rights assessment.

1.2.2 England

Councils can continue to provide accommodation and financial support under section 17 of the Children Act to other families with no recourse to public funds, including families with leave to remain.

Councils will be able to meet any additional welfare needs of a child, such as needs relating to a disability, under section 17, regardless of the family’s immigration status.

Children who have been looked after by the council for at least 13 weeks before turning 18 can continue to receive full support under the leaving care provisions of the Children Act if their asylum claim is still pending when they turn 18 or they have obtained refugee status or another type of leave.

1.2.3 Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

The legislative basis for providing support to families or care leavers without lawful status will not change, although the IA 2016 provides the UK government with a power to extend the changes that apply to England to the devolved nations.

Social workers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to undertake human rights assessments to determine whether a family or former looked after child (aged 18+) can be provided with support under child welfare legislation after becoming appeal rights exhausted.

Practitioners in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should note that the UK government has not yet clarified when a young person can access section 95A support if they are ARE at the time their leaving care or aftercare support ends.

1.3 Why the changes are being implemented now

In the family returns consultation, the government has provided some indication as to why it is now proceeding to implement schedules 11 and 12 of the IA 2016:

The current support framework has allowed families with no lawful basis to remain in the UK with continued access to publicly funded support, sometimes indefinitely. This has contributed to a system where the expectation to depart is often undermined, presenting unreasonable cost and complexities for both Government and local authorities to bear.

As of February 2026, around a third of all failed asylum seekers receiving support were part of a family group. The reforms set out in this consultation document aim to bring consistency and clarity to this system and to incentivise families to engage with the returns process. The UK will continue to take its international obligations and statutory duties seriously which includes not pushing families without lawful status into hardship or destitution. It is right that those families who are destitute and face genuine barriers to leaving will continue to receive support while those who have no such barriers will be expected to actively engage with the returns process and take steps toward departure from the UK.

With regards to the local authority support changes, the government states:

The intention is not to remove all forms of support, but to introduce a new and simplified form of support that may be made available by local authorities in England to certain migrants who have no legal status, including families, for the purposes of meeting their needs.

1.4 Implications for councils

Over the last decade, the NRPF Network has worked with councils across the UK to evidence the costs and challenges of supporting residents with no recourse to public funds. This evidence has informed our asks of the UK government to provide funding and to clearly define these important ‘safety-net’ duties, which are considered broadly workable, within social care statutory guidance. Instead, the implementation of significant legislative changes will create further cost and practice challenges for councils.

1.4.1 Asylum support changes

Reducing the availability of Home Office support for adults and families who become ARE following an unsuccessful asylum claim is likely to lead to increased homelessness and destitution. This may lead to more people who are ARE engaging with adult social care and homelessness services across the UK, but, most significantly, will transfer the responsibility for supporting some ARE asylum-seeking families from central to local government without any accompanying funding.

The full impact of supporting asylum-seeking families who become ARE is currently unclear, but could be significant as:

  • The government has indicated that asylum-seeking families who are already ARE at the time the changes are implemented will have their section 95 Home Office support terminated but will need to amend primary legislation to remove the transitional protections set out in the IA 2016
  • We do not know what the circumstances are of the asylum-seeking families who are ARE and currently supported by the Home Office in terms of how long they have been supported for already, how many have further applications pending, or what work the Home Office has already done to engage with families about their return options or help them to access legal advice
  • It is unclear whether late applications for section 95A Home Office support will be permitted for certain groups, and which groups would be able to apply outside of the 90-day grace period, as the government is consulting on these questions
  • It is unclear what level of engagement the Home Office intends to undertake with families to address their options during the 90-day grace period and how effective this will be in encouraging take-up of voluntary return, particularly where support is being withdrawn from families that have been accommodated by the Home Office for several years

1.4.2 Local authority support changes

The transfer of support from central to local government for supporting asylum-seeking families who are ARE comes at a time when councils already incur significant costs as a result of supporting families, care leavers, and adults with care needs who have no recourse to public funds – a spend of at least £94 million in 2024-25.

Introducing new legislative frameworks based on Home Office-set criteria for supporting families and care leavers without lawful status in England, will add further complexity to established areas of practice that are centred on safeguarding the welfare of children, keeping families together, and providing effective transitions to adulthood for care leavers.

The changes create practical challenges for councils, may give rise to additional safeguarding risks that will need to be managed, and increase local government’s dependency on timely information and prompt decision-making from the Home Office.

Supporting families and care leavers with no recourse to public funds under two different legislative schemes is likely to create practical challenges in terms of:

  • Understanding a new system involving different eligibility criteria and assessment process
  • Duplication where families are supported under paragraph 10A but child welfare needs must also be met through social care assessment and intervention, or where child welfare needs must be identified when considering condition E
  • Maintaining continuity for families and young people who move in and out of the different support systems as their immigration status changes

The shift from a child-centred approach to primarily immigration-focused eligibility criteria may give rise to safeguarding risks if:

  • Child welfare needs are not identified in assessments under the new framework, particularly where families may have been living in the UK without legal status for a number of years
  • Families, children in care, and care leavers go missing or disengage with their local authority
  • Children are left homeless because families do not meet the criteria for support from the Home Office or local authority but remain in the UK – a reality that is not addressed by implementing a new legislative scheme

Councils will have limited scope for applying their own discretion when implementing the new legislative frameworks and must follow guidance set by the Home Office to decide whether a family or care leaver qualifies for support, yet will hold all of the risk in terms of owning this decision and meeting support costs.

Although councils will no longer need to undertake human rights assessments, similar considerations regarding a family or care leaver’s ability to return will need to be made to establish whether the criteria under the new frameworks are met, with councils becoming even more reliant on the Home Office to provide timely information to inform their decisions.

With families currently supported under section 17 for an average period of 1.5 years, it is likely that families and care leavers will need to be supported under the new legislative frameworks for similarly lengthy periods, unless the Home Office takes steps to prevent claims from being held up in casework backlogs. Challenges accessing good quality, free legal advice also remain unaddressed.

Councils will need to ensure that oversight is provided to effectively implement the new legislation and manage support costs, which may be particularly challenging for councils that currently do not have a dedicated response to supporting families with no recourse to public funds.

1.5 What happens next

The family returns consultation runs from 5 March to 28 May 2026. It has been sent to a range of stakeholders, and we understand that responses will be accepted from individual councils.

Part one of the consultation sets out the government’s plans for implementing the IA 2016 changes, with consultation questions intended to finalise some details in the regulations and guidance.

Part two of the consultation focuses on the use of force on children when removing families from the UK.

The NRPF Network will be responding to part one of the consultation and will be working with local government partners to address some of the issues that are likely to arise as a result of the changes.

After the government publishes its response to the consultation, regulations will need to be made that set out further detail of the new asylum and local authority support schemes. Government guidance will also be produced for Home Office and local authority staff. The government will also need to amend primary legislation if it removes existing transitional protections.

Print chapter