The Government must support EU migrants who are at risk of not being able to meet the ‘most basic needs’, the Supreme Court has ruled.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld a Court of Appeal ruling that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wrongly refused Universal Credit (UC) to a domestic abuse survivor who had fled her home with her child.
The ruling means that EU citizens with pre-settled status and no other qualifying right to live in the UK cannot lawfully be refused UC if without it they would be at risk of being unable to live in dignified conditions.
Responding to the court’s ruling, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) solicitor Claire Hall said: ‘This ruling provides crucial protection for some of the most vulnerable families in the UK and the Secretary of State must move swiftly to apply the ruling and ensure no one is forced to live in unacceptable conditions.’
The DWP will now have to revisit 2,900 cases, according to CPAG.
A DWP spokesperson said: ‘We will be updating guidance and reviewing the affected cases in light of this judgment.’
