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Lucy Mort

@lucyhbmort.bsky.social
1.1K followers 314 following 29 posts

Principal Research Fellow at IPPR. Work on migration and cohesion. Care about creating a fairer and more just world.

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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Following Andy Burnham's remarks about the UK's "poorest communities" housing a disproportionate number of asylum seekers, I did some digging Dispersal has become a lot more evenly spread over the past decade but striking disparities exist inews.co.uk/news/the-cot...
inews.co.uk
The Cotswolds, New Forest and Malvern among 17 areas with no asylum seekers
New analysis shows the North West of England houses the largest number of asylum seekers - as Burnham says middle-class areas must 'play their part'
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Praxis, for migrants and refugees @praxisprojects.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Refugees do not choose to come here - by definition, they were forced to flee. Scrapping permanent status will trap refugees in a state of insecurity and fear. This is inhumane cruelty. Doing so says some people deserve fewer rights - and that inequality is law. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum
Home secretary announces 30-month protection limit, with refugees required to leave if their home countries are later judged safe
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
amreenqureshi.bsky.social @amreenqureshi.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
4.45 million children in the UK live in poverty, and nearly 4 in 10 are in families where both parents were born abroad. My blog sets out why this must be recognised in the upcoming Child Poverty Strategy. 🔗https://tinyurl.com/yc8mp55p
ippr.org
Making the Child Poverty Strategy work for migrant families | IPPR
At the time of writing, the UK government is preparing to launch a new national strategy to tackle child poverty. Weeks into being newly elected, prime min
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
And crucially, they highlight the 2026 break clause and 2029 contract end. If the government is serious about reform, it can’t sleepwalk into another five years of the same failed contracts. Full report here ⬇️ committees.parliament.uk/committee/83...
committees.parliament.uk
Billions squandered on asylum accommodation by Home Office mismanagement – Home Affairs Committee report finds - Committees - UK Parliament
Flawed contract design and incompetent delivery left the Home Office unable to cope with the surge in demand for asylum accommodation, a report by the Home Affairs Committee has found.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
They also take decentralisation seriously – not a silver bullet, but a credible route to ending many of the harms of the current centralised model.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
In my oral evidence, I described the system as “fragmented and incoherent”, with a “culture of quick fixes” and weak safeguarding oversight. The Committee echoes these concerns, calling for a safeguarding KPI, better training, and *actual* penalties for poor performance.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
…picking back up with some news from this week 👇 The Home Affairs Select Committee has just published its report on asylum accommodation – and I’m pleased to see many of IPPR’s recommendations reflected in it.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Apologies, I haven't been here for a while - but @jacquibroadhead.bsky.social has convinced me that it's a worthwhile place to be, so hello 👋
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Institute for Public Policy Research @ippr.org · 10/10/2025
🎉🎉🎉 Very proud that @parth0.bsky.social and @lucyhbmort.bsky.social have been nominated for @smartthinking.bsky.social Think Tanker of the Year and Researcher of the Year!
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) @gmiau.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
🚨We have published a NEW REPORT sharing the experiences of children from our All4One youth group who were wrongly treated as adults by the Home Office. These children arrived in the UK alone seeking asylum, were declared “significantly over 18” at the border and sent alone to adult asylum hotels.
gmiau.org
New Report - “This system destroys you”: Children trapped in adult asylum hotels by the Home Office - GMIAU
Our new report on children who have been wrongly sent to adult asylum hotels by the UK Home Office.
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz @josephinewy.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
When 1 in 3 of the 4.3 million children living in poverty are children in migrant households, the government just will not be able to cut poverty levels without action for this group of kids
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Praxis, for migrants and refugees @praxisprojects.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Big news! We’ve secured a debate in Parliament on child poverty next week. We need your help to get your MP in the room to speak out about No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), one of the most harmful policies facing migrant families. 📝 Email your MP now: act.praxis.org.uk/email-MP-NRP...
act.praxis.org.uk
Email your MP and tell them to attend child poverty debate next week!
On the 11th June, MPs will have the chance to speak up on the immigration restriction No Recourse to Public Funds and how this cruel policy is pushing children into poverty. We see the devastating imp...
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Bravo Rivka ✨👏
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
One provider out, another with its own chequered history in. Meanwhile, costs continue to climb. This Times article cites @ippr.bsky.social research: annual costs per person have risen from £17k to 41k since 2020. ⏳2026 is a critical opportunity to break free from a failing system. bit.ly/4hGnWTW
thetimes.com
Bibby Stockholm firm replaces Stay Belvedere Hotels in migrant contract
Corporate Travel Management was criticised for its running of the barge in Portland, south Dorset, which was opened by the last government
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
This time last week I spoke at the Home Affairs Select Committee about fixing our asylum accommodation system. We urgently need to shift power regionally and locally, improve safeguarding, and move away from mass sites - towards community solutions that work for everyone.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
ICYMI: See also this wonderful write up of our report in the @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Migrants and refugee families in the UK denied childcare funding, report finds
Immigration status is denying children equal access to early years education and pushing families ‘deeper into poverty’
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Read our report with @praxisprojects.bsky.social 🔗 www.ippr.org/articles/eve...
ippr.org
Every child is equal: Bridging the childcare gap for families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) | IPPR
Access to high quality, affordable early education and childcare has the potential to be transformative for families. It can have long-lasting impacts on c
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
If the government is serious about opportunity for all children, it must ensure childcare access isn’t blocked by immigration status.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
The fix is simple: Remove immigration-based restrictions on childcare support. This would: ✅ Help parents work & support their families ✅ Reduce child poverty ✅ Improve school readiness & social cohesion
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Take Efia, a single mum earning £950/month - she had to quit her job because £756 went straight to nursery fees. How is that sustainable?
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
New data shows: 📉 41% of parents without childcare say it stops them from working 📉 50% say household finances have worsened 📉 Kids are falling behind before they even start school
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Thousands of families - many with British children - are denied 30 hours of free childcare simply because of their immigration status. That means: 🚫 Parents unable to work 💰 Families struggling to afford basics 👶 Kids missing out on early education & social interaction
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Last week, @josephinewy.bsky.social and I published a report on childcare - specifically, how migrant families with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) are locked out of childcare support, pushing them deeper into poverty and holding back their children. 🧵👇
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
(& shoutout to British Future for their polling that helped me to make these arguments!) www.britishfuture.org/fewer-than-1... www.ipsos.com/sites/defaul...
britishfuture.org
Fewer than 1 in 10 people support Badenoch’s proposed 15-year wait on citizenship - British Future
A new poll by Focaldata finds more than half the public (56%) think citizenship should be available after 5 years or less
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Instead of a race to the bottom, we need: ✅ A system that recognises contribution ✅ Security & stability for migrants & families ✅ Policies that build cohesion, not exclusion.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
None of this actually helps. It doesn’t reduce migration. It doesn’t help communities. And it doesn’t reflect public opinion - most people support fair routes to settlement.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
🔹 Meanwhile, the government has changed policy to permanently bar refugees arriving irregularly from ever becoming citizens. It’s a reaction to Tory attacks - but it won’t stop people coming. It will just entrench exclusion.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
🚫 They also plan to deny settlement (ie ILR) to anyone who doesn’t meet a “net contribution” test (a nightmare to measure fairly) & ban people arriving via small boats from ever settling, no matter their circumstances. These are bad ideas.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
🔹 The Conservatives essentially want to extend the 10-year route to all migrants. That means more people stuck on expensive, temporary visas for a decade or more - pushing families into poverty & insecurity.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
I wrote a blog about the UK’s citizenship & settlement policies - and how both the Conservatives & Labour are making decisions that will trap people in precarity without solving anything. A quick thread on why this matters 🧵👇
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Have you spotted a familiar office door while watching Black Doves yet!? 👀
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz @josephinewy.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Great report from @savechildrenuk.bsky.social & @ippr.bsky.social highlighting urgent need for early years system to intentionally target closing the disadvantage gap. Key to this is be removing immigration restrictions, otherwise some of poorest children will continue to be left out
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Save the Children UK @savechildrenuk.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
🚨 NEW: 2/3 of England's poorest families are missing out on childcare, analysis by @ippr.bsky.social and Save the Children has found. Without urgent changes, free childcare expansion could miss the families who need it most. Childcare should be for every child, not just those who can afford it.
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
New report on childcare from @jodier.bsky.social and @jamie-ohalloran.bsky.social. Highlights that many families are excluded from essential childcare provision, including those with no recourse to public funds. Look out for detailed research from @josephinewy.bsky.social on this in the new year!
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
The asylum stats reiterate the fact that too many people are still stuck in woeful hotels. This is costing the gov't a hell of a lot and is no good at all for people living in them. We need local & regional bodies to be put in the driving seat - getting people out of hotels and into communities.
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) @gmiau.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
📣New briefing📣 "If one government can come up with this policy, then another one can too": The ongoing impact of the Rwanda detentions in Greater Manchester gmiau.org/new-briefing...
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
This ep of File on 4 is well worth a listen. It features people who feared for their lives when rioters targeted hotels in the summer & highlights @ippr.bsky.social analysis that finds the cost of asylum accom has more than doubled pp in just 5 years from £17k to £41k. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
File on 4 - The Asylum Business - BBC Sounds
What is the government’s plan to stop the use of asylum hotels? File on 4 investigates.
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Rosie Lockwood @rosielockwood.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Today is equal pay day - the day when women in the UK effectively work for free for the rest of the year, because of the gender pay gap 🙃 To mark the occasion, I've made 'Women of the North' starter pack of the incredible northern women you need to follow... go.bsky.app/P6Hu5Qk
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
There has to be a new approach, that improves conditions for people seeking asylum & proves value for money. And we need it soon. See our report for more detail on how: www.ippr.org/articles/tra...
ippr.org
Transforming asylum accommodation | IPPR
Instead of providing safety, current policies have trapped people seeking asylum in grim, undignified conditions. The August riots, which included violent
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Lucy Mort @lucyhbmort.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
The NAO reports that the Home Office 'cut corners' and - in the process - spent WAY over the odds on a building that was completely unfit for use as accommodation. I'd like to say I'm surprised, but alas... www.itv.com/news/2024-11...
itv.com
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
PoliticsHome @politicshome.bsky.social · 24/10/2024
An influential left-leaning think tank urges ministers to overhaul the asylum seeker accommodation system @ippr.bsky.social wants local bodies to have more control, warning that the set-up of the Home Office working w/ private providers like Serco isn't working www.politicshome.com/news/article...
politicshome.com
New Report Urges Government To Overhaul Asylum Seeker Accommodation System
An influential left-leaning think tank has urged the Government to overhaul the provision of asylum seeker accommodation and give more powers to lo...
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Institute for Public Policy Research @ippr.org · 24/10/2024
📢 | NEW REPORT: Asylum accommodation costs have surged, with billions spent on inadequate housing—wasting public funds and failing policy goals. Our report shows how ending outsourcing and empowering regional bodies can cut costs and improve conditions. www.ippr.org/articles/tra...
ippr.org
Transforming asylum accommodation | IPPR
Instead of providing safety, current policies have trapped people seeking asylum in grim, undignified conditions. The August riots, which included violent
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Reposted by Lucy Mort
Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 24/10/2024
A new @ippr.bsky.social report urges the govt to take “urgent” action to change the provision of asylum seeker accommodation away from private providers "It will require bolder action than maybe feels comfortable, but it is important," report author Dr Lucy Mort told @politicshome.bsky.social
politicshome.com
New Report Urges Government To Overhaul Asylum Seeker Accommodation System
An influential left-leaning think tank has urged the Government to overhaul the provision of asylum seeker accommodation and give more powers to lo...
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