Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

EU Settlement Scheme: Children in Care

Monday 7 June 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial steps will be taken to handle children in care sensitively regarding the EU settlement scheme.
  • The government will exercise discretion for late applications if missed due to reasonable grounds.
  • Outreach is being conducted through grant-funded organisations to reach vulnerable individuals, including care leavers.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 David Simmonds Con Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
Immigration Children & Families
Context

Children in care face a challenge after the EU settlement scheme deadline has passed.

Question

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that children in care can apply for settled status after the EU settlement scheme deadline has passed?

Answer from Chris Philp

We will take steps to ensure that children in care are handled sensitively. If someone misses the 30 June deadline due to reasonable grounds, discretion will be exercised and a late application accepted.

Answered
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Q2 David Simmonds Con Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
Immigration Children & Families
Context

The Government has committed to ensuring vulnerable people do not face uncertainty regarding their status. The questioner wants clarification on whether support extends to those aged 18-25 before December 31, 2020.

Question

I welcome the Government's commitment that we will learn lessons from Windrush and ensure that vulnerable people, especially children, do not find themselves with a question mark over their status in years to come. Will my hon. Friend confirm that the offer of support to care leavers making applications out of time includes those who were aged 18 to 25—and therefore had care leaving status under the Children Act 1989—before 31 December 2020, not just those who were under 18 at the time? Will he consider tweaking the case study provided in the Home Office guidance to make that absolutely clear?

Answer from Chris Philp

We are doing active outreach via grant-funded organisations with local authorities to ensure vulnerable people are reached. The care leavers described potentially fall under the reasonable grounds provision for missing deadlines, ensuring they can apply if they have reasonable grounds for not meeting the deadline.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The questioner asked specifically about tweaking case studies in guidance to make support clear but this was not directly addressed.

How: Under Review

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