Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether funding has been allocated to local authorities to support vulnerable (a) homeless and (b) elderly EU citizens in applying for the EU Settlement Scheme by covering the costs of (i) new identity documents and (ii) travelling to embassies or consulates.
Answered by James Duddridge
The EU Settlement Scheme makes it easy for EU citizens and their family members who want to stay in the UK to get the UK immigration status they need. It is free to make an application to the scheme so that there is no financial barrier to anyone who wishes to stay.
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. The Home Office will check the employment and benefits records the Government holds to establish their period of residence, meaning most applicants won’t need to do anything to evidence their residence. Where there are gaps, a wide variety of documents can be submitted as evidence, including a dated bank statement showing payments received or spending in the UK, a dated letter from a UK GP or indefinite leave to remain documentation.
There is also provision in the EU Settlement Scheme for applicants to apply without a valid identity document where they are unable to obtain one for compelling practical or compassionate reasons or due to circumstances beyond their control.
There is a wide range of support available online, over the phone and in person to help people apply. We have awarded £9 million this financial year to 57 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK to help us reach an estimated 200,000 vulnerable or at-risk EU citizens and their family members.
Additional support is also available to those EU citizens in the UK who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply online. This includes over 300 assisted digital locations across the UK where people can be supported through their application. Since 30 March 2019, there have only been around 6,300 appointments for Assisted Digital support. It is one of several ways people can verify their identity, including by post. There are also over 80 locations where applicants can have their passport scanned and verified across the UK.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the oral contribution of 27 June 2019, Official Report, column 795, how many Statutory Instruments will not have been enacted in the event that the UK exits the EU on 31 October; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Government is confident that all the necessary legislation will be in force to ensure a functioning UK statute book on the 31 October.
To date, the Government has laid over 600 Brexit statutory instruments (SIs) to prepare the UK for leaving the EU in any scenario.
All Brexit-related SIs laid before the House can be found on legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK. The SIs and their accompanying documents will indicate their procedure. Debates for affirmative SIs will be scheduled in the normal way and time will be found for debates once the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee have had time to consider the SIs.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of his Department paying the £65 application fee for settled or pre-settled status for EU nationals (a) employed by and (b) working as an outsourced worker in his Department; what estimate he has made of the total cost to his Department of paying those fees; and what assessment he has made of the risks that the EU Settlement Scheme poses to the retention of EU nationals (i) employed by or (ii) working as an outsourced worker in his Department.
Answered by Robin Walker
The UK Government currently does not plan to pay the Settled Status Fee for its non-UK EU citizen employees. The fee is set at an affordable rate (£65), less than the cost of a UK passport. Outsourced workers are not employees of the Department and therefore this would be a decision for their employers.
The number of non-UK EU citizens employed across the Civil Service is not consistently collected across Government. It is therefore not possible to estimate the cost of paying the settled status fee for non-UK EU nationals employed directly by the department.
We value the significant contribution made by EU citizens working in the Civil Service and we want these colleagues to continue to play a full role in the work of the Civil Service. We are committed to supporting our EU citizen employees across the Civil Service; the important engagement with EU national networks across government will continue over the coming months.
The Government has confirmed that, in a no deal scenario, the EU Settlement Scheme will continue to be implemented, enabling EU citizens and their family members living in the UK by 29 March 2019 to secure their status and continue to be able to work, study, and access benefits and services in the UK. The scheme will be fully open by 30 March 2019 as planned.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what progress the cross-Whitehall workstream has made since January 2018 on realising the opportunities to regulate (a) social, (b) environmental, (c) energy, (d) consumer and (e) product standards differently after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Suella Braverman
The Government is undertaking a wide range of analysis that contributes to our exit negotiations with the EU.
It is not standard practice to provide a running commentary on continuing, internal analysis. Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that could reveal our negotiating position.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the document EU Exit Analysis Cross Whitehall Briefing, dated January 2018, what assumptions were made when modelling for the impact on gross value added in the agriculture sector of exiting the EU under a Free Trade Agreement scenario.
Answered by Robin Walker
Leaving the European Union means leaving the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). We now want to take the opportunities leaving brings to reform the UK’s agricultural policy and ensure we make the most of these for our farmers and exporters.
The document to which the Honourable Member’s question refers is preliminary draft analysis and does not represent Government policy. As Ministers clearly set out in the House, this is provisional and incomplete internal work, part of a broad ongoing programme of analysis, and further work is in train.
It is analysis of existing trade relationships - none of which is the outcome we are working towards. As the Prime Minister has made clear, we are seeking the broadest and deepest possible partnership with the EU – covering more sectors and co-operating more fully than any Free Trade Agreement anywhere in the world today.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to his oral evidence to the Exiting the EU Committee on 6 December 2017, whether the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast of the economic impact of withdrawal from the EU is in the public domain.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook was published on 22 November 2017 and is available at the following address: http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.org.uk/Nov2017EFOwebversion-2.pdf. This sets out forecasts of the UK economy and public finances to 2022-23, which extends well beyond the point at which the UK leaves the EU.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the oral contribution of 17 October 2017, Official Report, column 739, whether the Government's undertaking that there will be a parliamentary vote on any withdrawal deal negotiated with the EU27 encompasses there being such a vote on how to proceed in the event that no deal is achieved.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Prime Minister has been consistently clear that Parliament will be fully involved in helping to shape the UK's future as we leave the European Union, whatever the outcome.
The Government has committed to both Houses of Parliament having a vote on the final agreement before it is concluded. We are focused on getting a good outcome and a deal that Parliament will want to support.
The Government is clear, however, that the British people voted to leave the EU and we will deliver on their instruction.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to paragraph 3.16 of the Review of the Balance of Competences between the UK and the EU: The Single Market, published in July 2013, whether the impact assessments relating to the effect of EU exit on 50 sectors of the economy conducted by his Department have reached conclusions different to those of the studies cited in the 2013 review about the effect of the Single Market on the UK's GDP.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The government is carrying out a programme of extensive analytical work that will contribute to our exit negotiations with the EU, defining our future partnership with the EU, and informing our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. As Parliament has also agreed, however we will not publish anything that undermines our ability to negotiate the best deal for the UK.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the fundamental right to health, and the legal obligation to ensure a high level of human protection, as set out in the EU treaties, will be incorporated into UK law as part of the Great Repeal Bill.
Answered by Robin Walker
The EU Right to Healthcare is a principle for the development of EU law. It did not create new rights to health care above and beyond what is already provided under national laws and practices. The UK's commitment to universal healthcare, free at the point of delivery, goes well beyond minimum EU requirements.
The Great Repeal Bill will ensure that there is maximum possible certainty as to the rights and obligations in our law upon leaving the EU. And it will allow for a smooth and orderly exit that provides a secure basis for future changes to our domestic law.
The Bill will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws apply on the day after we leave the EU as they did before. This means that the Bill will convert directly-applicable EU law into UK law; it will preserve all the laws we have made in the UK to implement our EU obligations, as well as the rights in the EU treaties that can be relied on directly in court by an individual.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to his letter of 29 March 2017 to the European Council President, if he will define the term (a) practical and (b) appropriate as used in the section on the process in the UK.
Answered by Robin Walker
The main focus of the Great Repeal Bill will be to provide stability, certainty and continuity whilst ensuring that future changes to the UK law will be the matter of the UK and devolved parliaments. As set out in the 'Legislating for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union' White Paper there are a variety of reasons why conversion alone may not be sufficient in particular cases. For example, there will be gaps where some areas of converted law will be entirely unable to operate because we are no longer a member of the EU. There will also be cases where EU law will cease to operate as intended or will be redundant once we leave.
This approach to converting EU derived law will provide a functioning statute book on the day we leave the EU, and ensure that it is for our sovereign Parliament (and where appropriate the devolved administrations) to make any future changes.