2025 issue 3: May–Jul

The Newsflash is a regular round up of publications, information, events, funding and jobs relating to asylum seekers, refugees and migrant workers for anyone who wants to keep up to date with the latest developments.

The Newsflash is produced by Local Government East – Strategic Migration Partnership.

1. Asylum Seekers and Refugees – including refugee resettlement

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1.1

Ministry of Defence: Data incident affecting applicants to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme and Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme

In February 2022 there was a data loss incident and some personal details of some applicants to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme and the Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia scheme (EGS) may have been compromised. This page provides information and guidance for those who may have been affected.

Applications submitted after 7 January 2022 are not affected by this incident.

Check if you may have been affected

If you applied to ARAP or EGS on or before 7 January 2022, find out whether you (and any family or dependants cited in your application) are potentially affected. Please note, if you have submitted multiple applications under either scheme, you should check every reference you have been given.

Scam emails and texts

Scam emails and texts about compensation that have been sent to some Afghans affected by the data incident. Please note:

• Any contact from the UK Ministry of Defence will be sent from email addresses ending in ‘@MOD.GOV.UK’.
• If you receive emails or texts claiming to be from the UK Ministry of Defence DO NOT reply or click on links or attachments.
• There is no fee attached to your ARAP or EGS application, offers made under the ARR or relocation through the ARP. Emails or texts requesting money for these schemes are scams.
• For further advice on spotting and reporting scams, read the National Cyber Security Centre’s phishing guidance.

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1.2

Home Office: UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) and Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP) Local Authority Funding Instructions (FI) 2025-26

The Home Office have released the latest Local Authority Funding Instructions for the below resettlement schemes, which can be accessed here:

UK Resettlement Scheme

• Integration Support Funding Instruction UKRS – 2025-26
• Healthcare Funding Instruction UKRS – 2025-26

Afghan Resettlement Programme

• Integration Support Funding Instruction ARP – 2025-26
• Healthcare Funding Instruction ARP – 2025-26

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1.3

Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration report

An inspection of the Home Office’s use of age assessments (July 2024-February 2025) has recently been published. The inspection examined the efficiency and effectiveness of the Home Office’s use of age assessments, looking particularly at the Irregular Migration Intake Unit and the National Age Assessment Board. The Home Office’s response to this report and the recommendations made has also been published and can be found here.

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1.4

The Needs of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and Young People Living in London

Commissioned by London Councils and the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services, a report has been published calling for deep-rooted reform in order to prioritise the protection and well-being of unaccompanied children and young people seeking asylum in the capital. Whilst focusing on London, the issues detailed in the report are relevant to the country as a whole.

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1.5

The New Recourse to Public Funds Checker (RTPF)

The New Recourse to Public Funds Checker (RTPF) is now available to councils across the UK to subscribe to in order to instantly establish whether a person can access public funds. The Home Office has funded the development of the RTPF Checker, which will be operated by the NRPF Network.
Do I need NRPF Connect or the RTPF Checker, or both?
Councils discharging statutory duties to provide accommodation and subsistence support under social care legislation must record this work on NRPF Connect, notifying the Home Office of involvement, engaging the Home Office in case prioritisation processes, and accounting for a high-cost area of social care practice. NRPF Connect is therefore used by social care and dedicated NRPF teams responsible for delivering support to families, adults with care needs, or care leavers.

When confirmation of a person’s immigration status or ability to access public funds in order to inform an eligibility decision is necessary, but no further contact with the Home Office is required, the RTPF checker can be used. For example, the RTPF checker may be a necessary tool for housing or benefits teams. The RTPF checker can be purchased by all councils, including district councils and those already using NRPF Connect.

Learn more about this tool here.

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1.6

Intentions and Perspectives of Syrian Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Europe

UNHCR have published a new report presenting the main findings from a survey and focus group discussions with forcibly displaced Syrians across 13 European countries. The 13-page report sets out the intentions and perspectives of Syrian refugees and asylum seekers in regard to their intention to either remain in their host country or return to Syria and on what basis (permanent return or short term visits), and has 3 key recommendations for host countries.

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1.7

‘I told them the truth’: An update on the criminalisation of people arriving to the UK on small boats

This new report has been published by the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Law and provides updated recent evidence and analysis of how people are being criminalised for seeking safety in the UK. The report covers the period from February 2024 until April 2025 – an update on the previous report published in February 2024, which covered the period from June 2022 to January 2024.

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1.8

Understanding asylum seeker and asylum-route refugee vulnerabilities, needs, and support (2022)

In May 2025, the Home Office published this research and analysis report. The research was funded under the European Union’s (EU) Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and relates to a broader AMIF-funded project entitled, ‘Asylum policy evidence and evaluation’. It was commissioned by the UK Home Office’s Analysis and Insights (HOAI) team and sought to establish how asylum seeker and refugee vulnerabilities, needs and support are understood and operationalised in the context of the UK asylum system. Through this research, the Home Office is seeking an evidence-based understanding of the challenges facing asylum seekers and refugees across their journey to the UK and within the UK asylum system, including pathways to integration, to enable better targeted support for those seeking asylum and those granted refugee status.

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1.9

No Access to Justice: Mapping the UK’s continuing immigration and asylum legal advice crisis

A report written by Jo Wilding and commissioned by the Justice Together Initiative highlights the discrepancies in legal aid access across the regions and nations of the UK. The report examines legal aid and other free or low-cost services in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, discussing emerging themes, before moving to a region-by-region analysis of demand and provision.

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1.10

Far-right riots: Advice for refugees and people seeking asylum

The organisation Hope Not Hate have published guidance for people concerned about far-right violence targeting people in temporary asylum accommodation or with refugee status living in the UK. If you work for an organisation supporting refugees and asylum seekers you may wish to download and share the guidance, which is available in several different languages.

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1.11

UK-France treaty targeting small boat crossings: ‘One in, one out’ pilot scheme

This agreement between France and the UK means that anyone entering the UK on a small boat can be detained immediately on arrival and returned to France by the UK government. Under the ‘one-in, one-out’ scheme, an equal number of migrants will be eligible to come to the UK through a new route if they have not attempted an illegal crossing before – subject to full documentation and security and eligibility checks.

Further details on the pilot scheme are yet to be announced. Read the full Home Office news story here.

2. Migration

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2.1

Department for Education Guidance: Adult skills fund 2025-26 & Hong Kong BN(O)s

From 1 August 2025, individuals will be eligible for ASF funding if they are ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of learning and undertaking learning in England. Hong Kong BN(O)s residing in defined ‘non-devolved’ areas in England will be eligible under these new rules, provided their visa status confirms they are ordinarily resident in the UK. Eligibility is still subject to meeting employment and income requirements.

See the guidance in full, here.

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2.2

Home Office News Story: Immigration white paper to reduce migration

Measures unveiled in the immigration white paper published on 12 May aim to reshape the UK’s immigration system, including new requirements on employers to boost domestic training have been introduced in a bid to end reliance on international recruitment.

Key policies in the white paper have been entitled ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’, and include the following:

• reversing the long-term trend of increasing international recruitment
• a labour market evidence group will be established, drawing on data available in to make informed decisions about the state of the labour market and the role that different policies should play

Read the story here.

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2.3

Overseas recruitment for care workers to end

In May 2025, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to end international recruitment for care workers. The government is seeking to crackdown on rogue care providers who have left carers in challenging situations, such as debt, unfair treatment and in some instances discovering the jobs they were promised did not exist. Displaced workers will be given the opportunity to do the jobs they were promised, whilst international workers who are already sponsored to work legally in the sector will be able to continue to extend their stay.

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2.4

Housing Rights Summer 2025 Newsletter

The Chartered Institute of Housing have published their new-look Summer 2025 newsletter. The e-news letter now has six sections – headline news, topical issues and four sections of news on refugees, asylum accommodation, eVisas and related matters, and a news round-up.

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2.5

PRAXIS: A Migrant’s Guide

Praxis, a human rights charity who provide advice, support and campaign so that migrants and refugees in the UK can live with safety, dignity and respect, have produce an interactive guide to support an individual through their immigration journey in the UK. The guide helps someone to access services, build community and take care of themselves before and after securing immigration status. The guide has been co-produced by people who have lived experience of navigating the complex immigration system in the UK.

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2.6

Migrant Champions Network resources

The Migrant Champions Network is a network of local councillors from across the UK, across different political parties, who work together on the rights of all migrants. They offer a number of resources on subjects such as immigration advice, No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) and the role of a local councillor and why local government matters.

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2.7

COMPAS News Story: Migrant Welcoming Schemes

The ‘Future of Welcoming in the UK’ study, undertaken by the Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity (GEM) team based at the University of Oxford’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), estimated the overall costs of supporting newcomer communities over the last ten years (2013/14- 2023/24) at over £20 billion (or £38 billion when accounting for inflation) across 26 separate funding streams.

This includes significant overspend funding for asylum accommodation provision (over £10 billion) as well as targeted support for people arriving from Afghanistan, Syria, Hong Kong and Ukraine.

Read the full story here.

The guidance in full, here.

3. Events and Training

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3.1

Free Movement training opportunities

Free Movement offer a range of training courses, including (but not limited to):

• A Short History of Immigration Law (Introductory)
• Age Assessments (Intermediate)
• Article 8 in UK Immigration Law (Intermediate)
• Asylum Process in the UK (Introductory)

Take a look at what they have on offer here.

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3.2

City of Sanctuary: Thematic Network Meeting

The next meeting in this series is to be held online on 16 September 2025, 12:00-13:30 and will look at the role of Public Health teams in supporting sanctuary work.

Click here to register for the event.

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3.3

NRPF Network training courses

The NRPF Network organisation offer a range of courses in relation to their work, including (but not limited to):

• Support options for people with no recourse to public funds: social care duties and best practice
• When and how to take a human rights assessment (care leavers)
• Support options for people with no recourse to public funds who are experiencing domestic abuse

You can find more details as to the training available here.

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3.4

Barnardo’s National Counter Trafficking Centre (NCTC)

A number of NCTC Awareness Raising Sessions are being offered by Barnardo’s.

Further information on the sessions available can be found here.

4. Funding

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There are no current funding opportunities.

5. Jobs

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There are no current job opportunities.

6. Other

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6.1

Desert Island Discs – Lord Alf Dubs

The Labour peer, Lord Alf Dubs was the castaway in the popular Radio 4 Desert Island Discs series in an episode broadcast in June 2025. During the programme, he talks about arriving in the UK from Prague in 1939 on one of the Kindertransport trains and discusses his career, time in politics and as the first refugee to become the director of the Refugee Council, along with his other campaign work.

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