Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has paid in benefits to people from the EU without settled status since the end of the transition period.

The requested information is not readily available. We are, however, exploring the feasibility of developing suitable statistics related to the immigration status of non-UK / Irish Universal Credit claimants.

EU citizens present in the UK at the end of the Transition Period but with less than 5 year’s continuous residence have been able to apply for pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. They can access disability benefits and, if they are exercising a qualifying right to reside, for example as a worker or self-employed, they can access income related benefits.

EU citizens who have arrived in the UK since the end of the Transition Period will be subject to the same rules as citizens from the rest of the world. They typically have no recourse to public funds for the first five years and cannot access income related, disability or carer benefits.

Those who have made sufficient national insurance contributions can access contributory benefits.