Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total cost of the EU Settlement Scheme to date; and what is the estimated total cost up to the deadline for applications on 30 June 2021.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
For the 2018/19 financial year, HM Treasury provided EU Exit funding allocation of £395 million to Home Office. £170 million has been reserved for the development and delivery of the EU Settlement Scheme. This includes building a simple, user-friendly digital application system, communications campaign and caseworkers to process applications.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have stopped the requirement for those applying for settled status to pay £65 for that application; what arrangements they are making to repay those who have already paid that amount during the pilot scheme or subsequently; and whether those applicants will be refunded automatically without a repayment having to be individually requested.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
As the Prime Minister announced on 21 January, there will be no fee for applications under the EU Settlement Scheme when we roll out the scheme in full by 30 March. Anyone who has applied during the pilot phase, or who does so, will have their fee reimbursed. The Home Office will set out further details in due course.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) guidance, and (2) assistance they provide to citizens of EU countries who have been resident in the UK since before the UK joined the European Economic Community, who have indefinite leave to remain but are not in possession of documentary evidence confirming their status; whether such support is being provided by the Windrush Task Force and its Vulnerable Persons Team; and if so, what support they offer.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and society, and we want them to stay. The EU Settlement Scheme enables them to do so. The application process is short and user-friendly, and it will be accessible to all prospective applicants.
We are working in partnership with vulnerable group representatives, local authorities and other experts to make sure we reach everyone. Since November 2017, we have held monthly meetings with representatives of EU citizens on the design and development of the scheme and communications plans. We have been working closely with these groups to identify the needs of potentially vulnerable applicants including the disabled, elderly and isolated. We are looking for reasons to grant, not for reasons to refuse; and we will have a broad range of support in place. For those who need non-specialist support there is the assisted digital service for technological support, and the Settlement Resolution Centre which will be able to assist with questions relating to the application process.
The Home Office will proactively work with applicants to provide further evidence where there is the need to do so. Applicants who claim to have an historical grant of Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) / Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) that they are unable to provide evidence of and which pre-dates current Home Office records may be able to apply under the Windrush Scheme to have their status checked and documented. Further information can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/undocumented-commonwealth-citizens-resident-in-the-uk.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the nationalities of those who have applied for citizenship or to prove their settled status under the Windrush Scheme since 30 May 2018; and of those, how many (1) have had their immigration status confirmed, (2) have been rejected, (3) are subject to an appeal, and (4) are still being considered, broken down by nationality.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Secretary provides the Home Affairs Select Committee with monthly updates on the work of the department in connection with Windrush. This includes information on decisions made by the Taskforce, with a section on the nationalities of those granted documentation. The monthly updates can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/correspondence-on-the-work-of-the-home-office-windrush
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to ensure that members of the Roma community who are citizens of EU countries and living in the UK are able to establish their right to remain in the UK after Brexit.
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 settlement scheme is accessible to all prospective applicants.
There will be new arrangements to provide both direct support from the Home Office, and indirect support through third parties. The support will include: ‘assisted digital’ support for those that cannot access or aren’t confident with technology; a range of translated content when the scheme opens fully in March; and policy provisions to ensure that the Home Office can consider a wide range of evidence of residence.
The Home Office has established a user group of external stakeholders including representation of the Roma community, to ensure the right support arrangements are in place.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 16 January (HL Deb, col 218) that citizens of EU countries who have been resident in the UK since before the UK joined the European Economic Community “can if they want make a free application to the Windrush scheme for documentation to confirm that status”, what are the consequences of those citizens not making such an application, in particular for those who do not have documentary evidence of their status.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
EU citizens who were settled in the UK before 1973 are deemed to have indefinite leave to remain and therefore already have a UK immigration status, which will be unaffected by the UK’s exit from the European Union. EU citizens who already have indefinite leave to remain are not required to apply to either the Windrush Scheme or the EU Settlement Scheme, but they may find it useful to do so to obtain up-to-date evidence of their status free of charge.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how long on average it takes for an application to prove settled status or for citizenship under the Windrush scheme to be dealt with.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Secretary provides the Home Affairs Select Committee with monthly updates on the work of the department in connection with Windrush. This includes information on decisions made by the Taskforce, with a section on decision timeliness. The monthly updates can be found at the following link and attached is the most recent letter to the Chair of HASC sent in December 2018.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/correspondence-on-the-work-of-the-home-office-windrush
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the effect on the applicant of a refusal of leave to remain under the current voluntary settled status application scheme for EU citizens; and whether a person who has received such a refusal will have the right to make a new application under any settled status scheme in place following the ratification of the withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The UK immigration status granted under the EU Settlement Scheme to those participating in the test phases is legally secure and does not need to be converted to another status following the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement. There will be no divergence between the rights granted under the test phases of the scheme’s implementation and those granted under the scheme following the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement.
An applicant who is refused status under the scheme during the test phases can submit a new application at any point before the 30 June 2021 deadline for the scheme set out in the Withdrawal Agreement. They will also retain any right of residence they may have under EU law until the end of the planned implementation period on 31 December 2020.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether and how indefinite leave to remain granted to successful applications under the current voluntary settled status application scheme for EU citizens will be converted to a status under any new scheme in place under the withdrawal agreement following its ratification; and if there is a divergence between the rights granted under the current voluntary scheme and those granted under any scheme in place following the ratification of the withdrawal agreement, what will be the effect on the rights of persons who have been granted the right to remain under the current voluntary scheme.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The UK immigration status granted under the EU Settlement Scheme to those participating in the test phases is legally secure and does not need to be converted to another status following the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement. There will be no divergence between the rights granted under the test phases of the scheme’s implementation and those granted under the scheme following the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement.
An applicant who is refused status under the scheme during the test phases can submit a new application at any point before the 30 June 2021 deadline for the scheme set out in the Withdrawal Agreement. They will also retain any right of residence they may have under EU law until the end of the planned implementation period on 31 December 2020.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether biometric and other data that has been supplied as part of applications for settled status by EU citizens under the EU Settlement Scheme will be deleted in the case of persons whose applications have been rejected; and if so, at what point such deletion will take place.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Biometrics enrolled as part of an application to EU Settlement Scheme will be retained in accordance with the Immigration (Physical Data) Regulations 2006, as amended. In practice, this means that fingerprints will normally be retained for up to 10 years, unless the person has settled status or is considered to be a risk of high harm to the UK.
All fingerprints are deleted from the Immigration and Asylum Biometric System when the person becomes a British citizen. Facial images may be retained until the person becomes a British citizen and obtains a British passport. Biometrics may only be retained as long as the Secretary of State considers it is necessary to retain them for use in connection with the exercise of a function by virtue of the Immigration Acts or a function in relation to nationality.