Dignity at last

Legal work can be a marathon. I’m a solicitor at CPAG, and we take on legal action to protect and defend families’ rights. Last week, nearly two years after the first judgment in one of our cases, we had confirmation that it won’t go any further – we have definitively won! 

We took the case on behalf of a mother and daughter who had fled home following domestic abuse. They had no money. The mum has pre-settled status, which is an immigration status for EU nationals who have lived in the UK for less than five years, and when she applied for universal credit to support her and her daughter, the application was refused.

We argued that this meant the family may be unable to live in dignified conditions, and were at risk of not having the resources to buy adequate food, clothing and shelter. We argued that the family should be given universal credit.

The government has been denying vital support to those with pre-settled status, regardless of what their needs are. Two tribunals agreed with us that this is not right, and then late last year the Court of Appeal agreed too. Yesterday, the Supreme Court agreed with them both and refused the DWP permission to appeal. 

What this means is that the government must support EU migrants at risk of not being able to meet their most basic needs.

We are now working hard to make sure front-line advisers know how to use this case to help their clients, and that the government applies the judgment correctly. This is likely to help lots of families – we know of nearly 3,000 cases already. 

The fact that the judgment won’t just sit in the legal textbooks but will be used to help front-line advisers to support families in practice is the thing that makes me most proud of our legal work at CPAG. 

This case came to us through one of our advice services, and shows the strength of our teamwork. But I also want to pay tribute to the strength of our client – it’s been a long road, and her willingness to persevere means she will have helped so many families.