Official Statistics

Grenfell immigration policy statistics (accessible)

Published 27 February 2020

Grenfell immigration policy statistics

Official statistics

27 February 2020

1. About the Grenfell immigration policies

The fire at Grenfell Tower occurred on 14 June 2017. Following the fire, a new immigration policy for the Grenfell survivors was introduced as it was recognised that some people directly affected had concerns about their immigration status^{[footnote 1] [footnote 2]}. A Grenfell relatives’ policy was also introduced to enable relatives of those directly affected by the fire to come to the UK to support their family members and to support the work of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry. Both policies provided for grants of leave outside of the Immigration Rules (LOTR) due to exceptional compassionate and compelling grounds^{[footnote 3]}.

2. Survivors’ policy

On 5 July 2017, the government introduced the Grenfell survivors’ policy, to allow individuals with an insecure immigration status^{[footnote 4]} who had lost their homes in the fire, to regularise their stay. A grant of LOTR provided those directly affected by the fire access to support and assistance, including access to public funds and rights to work in the UK. This scheme was targeted at those who met the qualifying criteria for the policy, and it was expected to apply to a limited number of people.

On 11 October 2017, the government announced that those who qualified under the survivors’ policy would be able to apply for permanent residence after 5 years’ lawful residence. Survivors were asked to come forward by 31 January 2018.

Individuals who were eligible under the survivors’ policy were granted an initial 12 months’ LOTR, followed by a further period of 2 years’ LOTR. They can then apply for a further period of 2 years’ LOTR, before being eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain^{[footnote 5]} after 5 years’ lawful residence under the policy.

The policy also allowed those with valid leave to remain in the UK, but ‘no recourse to public funds’^{[footnote 6]}, to have this condition lifted, or switch to 12 months’ leave as part of a 5-year route to indefinite leave to remain under the Grenfell survivors’ immigration policy.

All applications under the Grenfell survivors’ policy were subject to security, criminality and fraud checks.

3. Relatives’ policy

Following the Grenfell Tower fire, the Home Office processed requests to enter the UK from relatives of victims and survivors who were resident overseas. Discretion was exercised to waive visa requirements and grant LOTR to relatives on the basis of compelling compassionate grounds.

On 11 October 2017, a dedicated Grenfell relatives’ policy was introduced to allow relatives who entered the UK with LOTR for short periods, to top-up their stay to six months from their date of entry. This was to allow more time to make funeral arrangements.

Relatives were granted leave without recourse to public funds, unless it was required to prevent destitution, and they were not entitled to work or study (unless the relative was under 18, to enable access to schooling). On 26 June 2018, the policy was updated to allow relatives with Core Participant status^{[footnote 7]} to extend their stay for successive periods of up to six months at a time in order to participate in the Public Inquiry on an ongoing basis.

Relatives who wished to remain in the UK for longer than six months, or those who did not have Core Participant status, could apply for leave under existing immigration policies if they met the requirements.

4. Survivors’ policy data

The number of people who came forward for an initial 12 months’ LOTR under the survivors’ policy was 19.

Of these, 15 people were granted 12 months’ leave and 4 people were refused. Those refused under the policy failed to meet the eligibility qualifying criteria under which a survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire must have been either a resident of Grenfell Tower on the date of the fire, or living close to Grenfell Tower and were significantly affected by the fire because they were displaced from their place of residence which was destroyed or made uninhabitable by the fire.

Of the 15 people who were granted an initial 12 months’ leave, 12 applied for a further 2 years’ leave, all of whom were granted. Those that did not apply for further leave were either granted leave under another immigration route or did not qualify due to failing to meet the required criteria.

No survivors came forward after the closing date of 31 January 2018.

Table 1: Grenfell survivors’ immigration policy

Grenfell survivors’ immigration policy	Number of survivors
Total who came forward under survivors’ policy	19
Granted 12 months’ leave	15
Of which: Applied for a further 2 years’ leave	12
Of which: Granted a further 2 years’ leave	12
Refused	4

Source: Home Office

5. Relatives’ policy data

The total number of relatives of victims and survivors resident overseas who entered the UK with LOTR on the basis of compelling compassionate grounds was 219.

As at 31 December 2019, 87 of the 219 relatives who entered the UK on an exceptional basis remained in the UK either in accordance with the Grenfell relatives’ policy (29), with valid leave (51) or awaiting a decision on an application or claim lodged under other existing immigration policies (7).

Of the 29 relatives still in the UK in accordance with the Grenfell relatives’ policy, 13 were granted LOTR under the policy on the basis of having Core Participant status in the Public Inquiry, and 16 were granted LOTR in line with the policy on the basis of compelling compassionate grounds.

Table 2: Grenfell relatives’ immigration policy

Grenfell relatives’ immigration policy	Number of relatives
Total entries to the UK under the Grenfell relatives’ policy	219
Total relatives remaining in the UK (as at 31 December 2019)	87
Of which:
Granted leave under Grenfell relatives’ policy	29
Granted leave under other existing immigration policy	51
Pending decision on application under other existing immigration policy	7

Source: Home Office

Notes:

1. Figures are correct as at 31 December 2019.
2. Relatives remaining in the UK include people who; were granted an initial ‘top up’ extension of 6 months who then applied for leave under the Grenfell relatives’ policy on the basis of having ‘Core Participation’ status; people granted LOTR as a Grenfell relative, in line with the relatives’ policy, having applied for leave in another capacity but who did not meet the requirements to be granted under existing policies.

6. About the data

This is an ad hoc Official Statistics release^{[footnote 8]} providing information on the Grenfell immigration policies.

The Home Office Immigration Statistics quarterly release includes figures on grants of leave to enter and remain in the UK. Relatives who entered the UK with LOTR under the Grenfell policy are included as a subset in the admissions tables as ‘Others given leave to enter’ and in the entry clearance visa tables within the ‘Other temporary’ category. Survivors and relatives who were granted extensions to their leave to remain in the UK with LOTR under the Grenfell policies are included in the extensions tables within the ‘Other’ category. Relatives who subsequently applied for leave under existing immigration policies are included within the relevant category in the Immigration Statistics tables. None of the Grenfell survivors and relatives are separately identifiable within these categories.

Care has been taken to minimise the risk of disclosure of individuals covered by the Grenfell policies. Owing to the number of people involved, information on identifying characteristics has not been included in this release.

ISBN 978-1-78655-611-0

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1. See the Home Office guidance for more information on who the policy applied to. ↩

2. Those directly affected included residents of Grenfell Tower and those living close to Grenfell Tower who were displaced by the fire. See the Home Office guidance for more information. ↩

3. The Secretary of State has the power to grant leave on a discretionary basis outside of the Immigration Rules from the residual discretion under the Immigration Act 1971. LOTR on compelling compassionate grounds may be granted where the decision maker decides that the specific circumstances of the case includes exceptional circumstances. These circumstances will mean that a refusal would result in unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant or their family. ↩

4. This included those with no immigration status (including illegal entrants and overstayers), those with limited leave to remain in the UK and failed asylum seekers. See the Home Office guidance for more information on who the policy applied to. ↩

5. Indefinite leave to remain is permission to stay in the UK permanently (known as settlement). ↩

6. An immigration status with a ‘no recourse to public funds condition’ means that the person will not be able to claim most benefits. More information is available on the Gov.UK website here. ↩

7. Core Participant status in a Public Inquiry is applied to certain people (or groups of people) with a significant interest in the Inquiry to ensure they can participate fully. ↩

8. Ad hoc Official Statistics are statistical analyses produced and released where there is a pressing need for Official Statistics in the public interest. ↩