EU Settlement Scheme

Joanne McCartney AM moved, and Krupesh Hirani AM seconded the following amended motion:

“This Assembly notes the deadline for applying to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) is on the 30 June 2021 and is concerned that there are some groups of people are less likely to have applied for EUSS by the June deadline – particularly older EU residents, children, individuals with physical or mental health disabilities, women in relationships involving domestic abuse or Roma people, and that the scheme risks another Windrush scandal. This Assembly notes that a cause of the Windrush Scandal was the inability of long-term residents to provide physical proof of their valid right to remain in the UK.

This Assembly calls on the Government to automatically grant those eligible EU Citizens the right to remain, and in the absence of this, extend the EUSS deadline further to ensure as many EU citizens living in London and the UK as possible have applied.

This Assembly also calls on the Mayor to continue promoting the EUSS and supporting EU Londoners to apply to the scheme. This Assembly further calls on the Chair of the Assembly to write to the Home Secretary and ask the Government to provide London’s EU citizens the opportunity to convert their digital settled status into a physical card that will provide London’s EU citizens with physical proof of their right to remain.”

Following debate and upon being put to a vote, the amended motion was agreed (15 votes in favour and 9 votes against).