Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people who were granted pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (a) are protected by the equal treatment provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement and (b) satisfy the right to reside condition of the Habitual Residence Test for the purpose of accessing social security.

The Government has taken steps to provide reassurance to and protect the rights of EEA citizens resident in the UK by the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, so that they will be able to continue their lives in the UK much as before. In order to give effect to this, on 30 March 2019, the Home Office fully launched the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

By being granted status under the EUSS, EEA citizens living in the UK are able to continue to work, study and access benefits and services in the UK on the same basis as they did before we left the EU. EEA citizens with pre-settled status are eligible to claim DWP income-related benefits such as Universal Credit if they are exercising a qualifying EU Treaty Right. This includes those with a worker or self-employed status and EEA workers with retained worker status who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

The longstanding requirement to be exercising a qualifying Treaty right to access income-related benefits is in line with EU law and aligned to Article 24 of the Citizens’ Rights Directive, to which Article 23 of the Withdrawal Agreement refers. Our approach is consistent with the Withdrawal Agreement. EEA citizens with pre-settled status can also claim contributory benefits providing they meet eligibility criteria.