Reports

April 2024

The All Party Parliamentary Groups for Poverty and for Migration came together to conduct an Inquiry into whether and how immigration and asylum policies are contributing to poverty in the UK. 

This report summarises their findings and is an attempt to bring together policy and political conversations about migration and poverty and to explore the implications of migration policy for poverty in the UK. 

The Inquiry received around 200 submissions of evidence, from experts with lived and professional experience of poverty and the UK immigration system. Parliamentarians heard powerful evidence about the impacts that this has on individuals, families and communities. 

We found that rates of poverty are generally higher for migrants than for the UK-born population and that migrants are more likely to face deep poverty and deprivation. It was hard to avoid the conclusion that policy is sometimes designed to push people into poverty in the hope that it will deter others from moving to the UK, even though there is little evidence that this would indeed be a deterrent. It was clear that poverty and destitution are sometimes caused by a lack of coordination and shared purpose between different parts of government. Due to a number of changes to immigration policy in recent years the number of people affected by these issues has increased significantly and the costs to local authorities, service providers and the voluntary sector have also increased.

The report offers a range of practical recommendations on steps that can be taken to reduce the direct impacts that immigration policy has on poverty in the UK. It highlights key priorities for policy changes in the following 5 areas: employment and wages; access to social security and welfare; access to public services;  housing; and direct immigration costs. The report also contains key insights from the lived experience and written evidence which provide a useful snapshot of the challenges that migrant groups with different statuses face. 

We would like to thank all of the organisations and individuals who contributed to the inquiry and the writing of this report. From responding to the call for written and oral evidence, to commenting on drafts, we are grateful for the time and expertise shared. 

To read the report in full clickhere.

February 2023

The EU Settlement Scheme opened in 2019 and the deadline for applications was 30th June 2021. Those with pre-settled status are required to re-apply for settled status; there remain 188,170 outstanding applications; and there are individuals yet to make an initial application. It therefore remains important to continue to monitor how the scheme is operating. The report, which is based on submissions from frontline organisations working with EU citizens to secure their status, offers an evidence-based overview of the current concerns associated with the EU Settlement Scheme. The launch will include the presentation of recommendations from the inquiry together with organisations providing direct support to EU citizens in the UK EUSS. The APPG inquiry surveyed over 30 organisations across the UK that provide advice to EUSS applicants. We are aware that, with over 6.9 million completed applications, the EUSS has been the biggest immigration regularisation scheme ever implemented in British history. It’s presumption of ‘saying yes’ rather than ‘saying no’ to applications, and a digital application process which was, for many, simple and straightforward, has meant that the EUSS has been successfully able to honour our responsibilities to many EU citizens and their families after we left the EU. However, the report identified some outstanding challenges, and in consultation with experts working in this field, a number of key recommendations have been formulated. A downloadable version of the inquiry's full Report is now available.

June 2022

‘Operation Warm Welcome’ was launched by the UK government as a cross-departmental integration package to help Afghans who arrived in the summer of 2021 to settle and integrate in the UK. Support was promised on education, housing, employment and English language classes. As more than ten months have passed since Afghans have been relocated to the UK, RAMP has produced a research report that aims to provide a snapshot of the realities of the reception and welcome that Afghan families have encountered on the ground. Based on a review of existing studies and interviews with local authorities, national and local voluntary organizations and Afghans, the report aims to assess the progress on integration made by this cohort in relation to established markers of refugee integration. The report suggests a number of policy recommendations to the government to improve the integration prospects of this cohort and offers insights into how to strengthen the UK integration and resettlement infrastructures.

Read the report by clicking here.

January 2022

Over the last year, the RAMP Team in Bristol and Bristol Refugee Rights (BRR) have worked in partnership to ensure that individuals living with the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition in Bristol are supported by the local Council and voluntary-sector organizations. Based on the ‘Bristol Model’ - an approach agreed by Bristol City Council leaders which combines listening from those with lived experience of the NRPF condition, learning from best practice in local authority across the country, and developing concrete policy recommendations - BRR and RAMP have published this policy briefing (external website) on how to improve the welfare of those subject to NRPF in Bristol.

September 2021

On 1 January 2021, the new UK’s Points Based System came into effect, as part of an effort by the Government to ensure that the immigration system prioritises those who come to our country based on their skills. Working with Fragomen LLP, the APPG on Migration then conducted an inquiry to hear the effects that employers from different sectors, and in different parts of the country, were starting to experience. Based on a survey and follow-up interviews with employers of different sizes, the inquiry contains feedback about the positive and negative impacts of the new Immigration Rules on employers, employees, the wider economy and communities, to understand how they are responding and adapting to the new system. A version of the inquiry’s Report (external website) is now available.

June 2021

This research is based on a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) from Neil Coyle MP, and supported by RAMP, to local authorities who took part in the “Everyone In” rough sleeping initiative. It outlines some of the different ways local authorities funded the support they provided to those rough sleeping, including those with the No Recourse to Public Funds visa condition.

Read a summary of the findings and linked data by clicking here.

March 2020

Renaisi conducted an external evaluation of RAMP Bristol, an initiative funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation to second two Inclusion Advisors into the Mayor of Bristol’s Office, to help make inclusion a key theme of the Mayor’s administration. The initiative was launched in 2018 and has been funded until March 2021. Engaging a range of key stakeholders, the evaluation assesses the impact of the initiative on different stakeholders in the city, and collates suggestions and ideas for the remaining year of funding.

Read the report by clickinghere.

October 2019

This report is the RAMP Project's submission to the British Future Citizenship Inquiry. It sets out areas for reform of citizenship policy that we believe can command widespread support across Parliament and the country. It also draws on research conducted by David Atter for the RAMP Project on the Customer Experience of citizenship application, which argues that the Home Office should apply Customer Experience methodology to address what for many, at present, is a demoralising and confusing process.

Read the report by clicking here.

September 2018

This study by Peter Haddock comprises an overview of the work of House of Commons select committees as they have focused on the migration policies over the last 8 years. Concentrating primarily on the Home Affairs Select Committee, Haddock argues that the need for the legislature to hold the executive to account is ever more important, especially at a time when migration policy is at the front and centre of political argument.

Read the report by clicking here.