Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications made by EU citizens for permanent residency in the UK have been rejected in each of the last 12 months on the basis of insufficient health insurance provisions.

The information requested is not collated on centrally held statistical databases and could only be produced at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case files.

Applications for documentation certifying permanent residence are refused where they do not meet the requirements set out in EU law in the Free Movement Directive. The Free Movement Directive is clear that those who wish to rely on periods of residence as a student or self-sufficient person must have held comprehensive sickness insurance in order for their residence to count towards permanent residence status.