Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that European citizens who are resident in the UK who may not be aware of the requirement to apply for settled status because they are (a) elderly, including those living in local authority and private care homes and suffering from conditions such as dementia, and (b) young people who may be in local authority and foster care have access to information to enable them to apply for that status under the EU Settlement Scheme by the deadline of 30 June 2021.

Since the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) opened in March 2019, the Home Office has undertaken a broad range of communications and stakeholder engagement activity to encourage EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members to apply for and obtain status. This has included targeted stakeholder engagement with hard to reach and vulnerable groups, including collaborative work with local authorities, and a comprehensive, £7.9 million advertising campaign.

We are committed to making sure everybody eligible for the EUSS can apply, including those who are vulnerable or need extra support. We have awarded £22 million of funding to a network of now 72 charities and community organisations across the UK, to ensure important information and assistance gets through to those who are hardest to reach and no one is left behind. These organisations have helped more than 250,000 vulnerable people to apply to the EUSS already, including elderly people living in local authority and private care homes and those suffering from dementia.

In England, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services is continuing to engage with social care departments across the country. They are delivering engagement webinars to key stakeholders such as the Principal Social Workers and the Care Provider Alliance to provide information and are signposting the support available through the grant-funded network.

In Scotland, Citizen’s Advice Scotland are working with care providers in the Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling local authority areas.

In Northern Ireland, Advice NI and Step are funded to provide support to the care sector.

In Wales, support is provided by both Newport Mind and TGP Cymru.

In relation to children in care and care leavers, the Home Office continues to engage extensively with relevant stakeholders, such as the Department for Education, local authorities and local government associations in England, Wales and Scotland, Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, to ensure staff and applicants are supported and informed throughout the application process.

The Home Office also holds a programme of teleconferences for local authority staff working with children in care, which provide a forum to exchange information, ask questions and raise issues.