Welfare Benefits

'Public funds’ refers to a specific list in the Immigration Rules of benefits and other payments as listed below. If you have been given immigration permission with the condition ‘No recourse to public funds’ or 'No access to public funds', it is unlikely that you will be able to receive any of these benefits.

From 5 October 2023, the Immigration Rules list ‘public funds’ as:

• Universal Credit
• Personal Independence Payment
• Help with housing from the local authority
• Attendance allowance
• Carer's allowance 
• Child benefit
• Council tax reduction (Note that 'council tax reduction' is different from being exempt from council tax. If your dwelling is 'exempt' from council tax, or you are 'disregarded' for the purpose of council tax, then you are not receiving a council tax reduction. See Council tax).
• Domestic rate relief (in Northern Ireland)
• Disability living allowance
• Housing benefit
• Income support
• Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
• Income-based employment and support allowance 
• Severe disablement allowance
• Social fund maternity expenses payment or Social Fund sure start maternity grant, Social Fund funeral expenses payment, Social Fund cold weather payment, Social Fund winter fuel payment, or Social Fund budgeting loan payment
• discretionary payment made by a local authority in England under section 1 of the Localism Act 2011 (but not energy rebate scheme payments in England)
• discretionary support payments made in accordance with regulations made under article 135 of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015
• payment from a welfare fund under the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015
• Child tax credit
• Working tax credit
• State pension credit
• Child Disability Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Carer's Allowance Supplement, Scottish Child Payment, Funeral Support Payment, Job Start Payment, Child Winter Heating Assistance, or Winter Heating Payment (all are in Scotland only)

Note that the benefits and services listed as ‘public funds’ above do not include access to the National Health Service, education, or any education funding (for example, being assessed as a ‘home’ fee-payer or being eligible for student support) - so if you are entitled to any of these things, you would not be in breach of your immigration conditions if you claimed them.