Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that the number of young people in the care of local authorities who still need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme do so before the deadline.

The Home Office has continued to engage with local authorities as they undertake their responsibilities to ensure eligible looked after children and care leavers were supported to make an application to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) by the 30 June 2021 deadline for those resident in the UK by the end of the transition period.

This included running webinars for local authority staff making or supporting EUSS applications, providing support seven days a week via the EU Settlement Resolution Centre and making available £22 million in grant funding through to 30 September 2021 for a network of 72 organisations across the UK, including several local authorities and local government associations, to help vulnerable groups apply to the EUSS. We have also provided additional funding, following a new burdens assessment, for local authority work in helping looked after children and care leavers to obtain EUSS status. This work and their relevant statutory responsibilities are reflected in the guidance on the EUSS for local authorities which is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-looked-after-children-and-care-leavers-guidance.

To monitor progress with this important work, the Home Office carried out a further survey of local authorities earlier this year. As of 23 April 2021, applications had been submitted by or for 2,440 (67 per cent) of the 3,660 looked after children and care leavers identified by the survey as eligible to apply. Using the data from the survey, further workshops have been delivered and targeted engagement carried out with local authorities to support further progress.

We are considering options for further progress monitoring in relation to this cohort following the 30 June 2021 deadline. Further information on the survey is available at:

EU Settlement Scheme: looked-after children and care leavers survey 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

We will continue to work closely with local authorities following the 30 June 2021 deadline. Consistent with the published non-exhaustive guidance on reasonable grounds for making a late application, we will take a pragmatic and flexible approach to dealing with late applications, including from care leavers who were aged over 18 before the deadline.