Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision they will make available to (1) landlords, (2) employers, and (3) providers of services, who need to check the status of persons claiming to possess settled status or pre-settled status and are not able to access that information online.

EEA and Swiss citizens can continue to use their national passports or identity cards to evidence their status in the UK until the new border and immigration system is introduced in 2021. There is no requirement for them to start using their digital status to evidence their right to rent, work or other entitlements until then.

The Home Office has published statutory codes of practice on GOV.UK for landlords and employers on how to avoid unlawful discrimination when undertaking checks, which clearly stipulate that landlords and employers should provide individuals with every opportunity to demonstrate their right to rent and work and should not discriminate on the basis of how the individual chooses to evidence their status check; by the production of documents or using the online service.

We are clear those who discriminate are breaking the law. Any EEA or Swiss national who believes they have been discriminated against, either directly or indirectly, may bring a complaint before the courts or before an employment tribunal. The Equality Advisory Support Service is there to support people who may have experienced discrimination in England, Scotland or Wales, and an equivalent is provided by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

95[1] per cent of adults aged 16-74 years in the UK in 2018 were recent internet users, however, we are committed to delivering a service that reflects the diverse needs of all users:

• We have a call centre that can assist digital status holders to use the service and telephone helplines that offer guidance to employers and landlords on conducting right to work and right to rent checks.
• We are providing assisted digital services that are triaged to reflect the individual’s need – both the status holder and the user who may be conducting the check.

We will continue to review how digital status is working and the impact of its usage as we roll it out, to inform future design and communications.

[1] https://www.ons.GOV.UK/businessindustryandtrade/itandinternetindustry/bulletins/internetusers/2019