Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the maximum length of continuous visa-free stay for EU citizens in the UK will be from 1 January 2021; how soon after the end of any such visa-free stay period EU citizens who have stayed for the maximum period will be able to return to the UK to begin another visa-free stay; and what will be the legal basis for an agreement on such matters between the UK and EU.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government has already said that its intention is for citizens of the EEA and Switzerland to be able to continue to travel to the UK as a visitor for up to six months without needing a visa from the end of the transition period following the UK’s departure from the EU. This will be reflected in the UK’s immigration rules.
EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals will not be required to remain outside the UK for a set period before returning to the UK as a visitor, however they should not seek to live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits or make the UK their main home.
From 1 January 2021, unless they have rights under the EU exit separation agreements, EEA and Swiss nationals intending to come to the UK on a long-term basis to live, work or study will need to do so under the new, UK points-based immigration system which will be set out in our domestic law.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make phone calls free of charge for applicants seeking advice from the EU Settlement Scheme Resolution Centres.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office are not charging for this service, calls to the Settlement Resolution Centre from within the UK will cost the same as dialling any 01 or 02 number.
The charges will vary depending upon the provider and using landlines or mobiles. Applicants may get free calls to some numbers as part of their call package. We also have an 02 number available for those calling from overseas.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 14 February (HL Deb, col 1934), what is the minimum necessary documentation required from EU citizens applying for settled status in order to (1) prove residency, and over what period; (2) prove identity; and (3) prove the absence of criminal convictions.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The EU Settlement Scheme provides a simple, streamlined process for resident EU citizens and their family members to obtain the UK immigration status which they will need in order to remain here permanently.
Continuity of UK residence for settled or pre-settled status will be established, where possible, by automated checks of employment and benefits records, if the applicant chooses to provide their National Insurance number. This will minimise the extent to which applicants need to provide documentary evidence of residence. Where they do, a wide range of documents can be used, as set out in the guidance at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-evidence-of-uk-residence
The applicant can prove their identity remotely through the identity verification app which has been developed for the scheme and which can also be accessed at what will be a wide range of locations across the UK. From the full opening of the scheme by 30 March 2019, they will also be able to post their identity document to the Home Office to have this checked and returned to them as soon as possible.
In respect of criminality, applicants aged 18 or over are required to provide information about previous criminal convictions in the UK and overseas, and are only required to declare past criminal convictions which appear in their criminal record in accordance with the law of the State of conviction at the time of the application. All applications are subject to a check against the Police National Computer.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of whether EU self-employed workers are experiencing particular difficulties in applying for settled status in the UK; and if so, what they are.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office is putting in place measures to ensure that the EU Settlement Scheme is streamlined, user-friendly and accessible to all prospective applicants. Applicants will only need to complete three key steps - prove their identity, show that that they live in the UK, and declare any criminal convictions. Where an applicant provides a National Insurance Number, we will conduct an automated check of residence based on tax and certain benefit records.
The checks with HMRC caters for those who are self-employed and where a self-assessment is submitted with a profit, this counts as a year’s residence.
However, the tax year for self-assessment is up to a year behind a person’s potential residence. For instance, the tax return for the financial year 2017/ 2018 is completed in January 2019. This means there will be no data to confirm residence for the current tax year but applicants can upload supplementary evidence to fill in any gaps in the data.
We will accept a range of documents as evidence and the documents can be submitted digitally through the online application form.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will be providing (1) a live helpline, and (2) an email address, for EU applicants for settled status in the UK to contact for support with their application.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office is putting in place measures to ensure that the EU Settlement Scheme is streamlined, user-friendly and accessible to all prospective applicants. There is a broad range of support in place including the Settlement Resolution Centre (SRC) which provides assistance to applicants who need additional information or support about the scheme. If an applicant has a question they can call the Settlement Resolution Centre or complete the standard email template available on GOV.UK which is then sent to a central inbox within the Settlement Resolution Centre.
The SRC is open from Monday to Friday between 8am and 8pm, excluding public holidays, and on Saturday and Sunday between 9.30am and 4.30pm. We will have up to 300 SRC staff in place when the scheme launches by the 30 March.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 28 June (HL Deb, col 1490) that the military and police need to have adequate resources, how many police staff in the UK are exclusively dedicated to the recovery of stolen art and antiques; whether there are plans to increase that number; and what sources of funding are available for those posts.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Home Office does not hold information on the police workforce engaged in the recovery of stolen art and antiquities. Ultimately decisions on the size, composition and deployment of a police force’s workforce are operational matters for individual chief constables, working with their democratically elected Police and Crime Commissioners. Specific funding is not provided centrally for this area of operations, and it is for the individual forces concerned to decide how best to allocate their available resources according to local and national priorities.
The 2016-17 funding settlement for the police ensures that the police have adequate funding to do their work. In 2016/17, direct resource funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), including council tax precept, has been protected to at least flat cash levels. This means that no PCC who chose to maximise precept is facing a reduction in cash funding in 2016/17 compared to 2015/16 and the majority are seeing marginal cash increases in their spending power.