Eve Dickson

• Research Fellow at University College London

Free School Meals (FSM) have been the site of renewed contestation and extensive campaigning in the last half-decade. Until recently, children in families with ‘no recourse to public funds’ because of their immigration status were excluded from accessing FSMs, despite being some of the most destitute in Britain. Through an analysis of campaign mate...

Questions of subjectivity are increasingly key to critical studies of migration, which highlight the production of subjectivities as one of the central functions of borders. Yet the question of how borders operate at a psychic level is rarely considered. Drawing inspiration from Gail Lewis’s psychosocial approach to the racial formation of subjects...

In July 2012, major changes to the family migration rules were made in the UK, severely restricting British and settled residents' rights to sponsor non-EEA family members. However, little is known about how they have been experienced in practice, particularly by the South Asian families they target. Our article draws on policy and media analysis a...

There is a long history of immigration control and welfare conditionality in the UK, but the interaction between immigration policies and food poverty is under-researched. This article outlines the links between immigration control and food poverty or destitution in the UK. Drawing on insights from the existing literature and a structured discussio...

At the height of the UK’s COVID-19 ‘lockdown’, a group of families subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) immigration condition1 brought legal action against the UK government on the basis of their exclusion from free school meals support. The challenge succeeded, resulting in the temporary extension of free school meals support to som...

In 2012, the ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition was extended to long-standing migrant families in the UK who had previously achieved rights to residence and welfare through human rights mechanisms. Through close examination of policy, political statements, and media coverage, we make the case that the NRPF extension was – and continues...

Migrants with ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) are at high risk of destitution due to their exclusion from most welfare benefits and statutory housing support. This is a longstanding issue that has been highlighted by campaigners, academics and the migration sector. This report examines how local authorities in England responded to people with...

Migrants with ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) are at high risk of destitution due to their exclusion from most welfare benefits and statutory housing support. This is a longstanding issue that has been highlighted by campaigners, academics and the migration sector. This report examines how local authorities in England responded to people with...

The interim briefing presents initial findings from a project exploring the support available to migrants with no recourse to public funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research included a survey of local authorities in England, and a call for evidence from migrant support organisations in England, Scotland and Wales. More than 90 percent of...

This interim briefing presents initial findings from a project exploring the support available to migrants with no recourse to public funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research included a survey of local authorities in England, and a call for evidence from migrant support organisations in England, Scotland and Wales. More than 90 percent of...