Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that victims of modern slavery with EU/EEA nationality living in the UK before December 31 2020 are able to apply for settled status in the event that they do not meet the deadline to apply as a result of their experience of exploitation; and if she will make a statement.

In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, the Government has made clear, where a person has reasonable grounds for missing the 30 June 2021 deadline for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme by EEA citizens and their family members resident in the UK by the end of the transition period, they will be given a further opportunity to apply.

Examples of such reasonable grounds will include victims of modern slavery and other people in abusive or controlling situations or relationships who were prevented from applying. Non-exhaustive guidance will be published on what constitutes such reasonable grounds, to underpin a flexible and pragmatic approach to considering late applications under the scheme, in light of the circumstances of each case.