Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the oral evidence from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Exiting the European Union to the Committee on Exiting the European Union of 4 September 2018, at the point where they were last assessed, how many cross-departmental workstreams on the UK leaving the EU without a deal were rated as (a) red, (b) red/amber, (c) amber, (d) amber/green and (e) green.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Government has over 300 work streams looking at specific no deal plans across a range of sectors and these are well advanced. There is still some work to be done but departments are making sensible decisions about prioritisation.
The underlying detail for each workstream, including any assessment of those programmes, is exceptionally sensitive. If workstreams - or the underlying data - were made public, both our negotiating position and our ability to manage delivery across the programme would be significantly damaged.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the oral evidence from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Exiting the European Union to the Committee on Exiting the European Union of 4 September 2018, if he will list the 300 cross-government workstreams on the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Government has over 300 work streams looking at specific no deal plans across a range of sectors and these are well advanced. There is still some work to be done but departments are making sensible decisions about prioritisation.
The underlying detail for each workstream, including any assessment of those programmes, is exceptionally sensitive. If workstreams - or the underlying data - were made public, both our negotiating position and our ability to manage delivery across the programme would be significantly damaged.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which non-UK EU member states have not announced unilateral arrangements for (a) the rights of resident UK nationals and (b) UK nationals to work in those countries in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.
Answered by Robin Walker
Following extensive engagement by the Government, we are pleased that all Member States have now made commitments to protect the residence rights of UK nationals in a no deal scenario, albeit to varying degrees of detail. The EU Commission has published details at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/brexit/brexit-preparedness/citizens-rights_en.
Member States have also made some unilateral commitments to protect the right to work, study, and access to benefits and services in a no deal scenario. For example Poland has committed to offering permanent residency covering the right to work and Malta will create a new ‘ad hoc’ status allowing UK nationals to work without a permit. To understand the extent to which each Member State has put in place protections, UK nationals should visit the FCO “living in guides” on gov.uk and the relevant web pages of their host countries.
We continue to engage our EU counterparts to encourage full reciprocity of our offer to EU citizens in the UK, in which they will continue to be able to work, study, and access benefits and services in a no deal exit as they can today.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what unilateral arrangements for the rights of UK citizens living in other EU member states have been put in place in each of those other member states.
Answered by Robin Walker
The UK government has been clear that in any scenario, including no deal, EU citizens and their family members living here by exit day will be able to stay. EU citizens resident in the UK by exit day are able to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to secure their status. The scheme fully opened on 30 March and so far over 800,000 applicants have applied. Applications to the scheme are free.
Following extensive engagement by the Government, we are pleased that all Member States have now made commitments to protect the rights of UK nationals in the EU and have guaranteed that UK nationals legally resident by exit day will be able to stay. We continue to encourage Member States to fully reciprocate our offer and communicate plans as soon as possible.
The EU Commission have published details of each Member State’s unilateral measures on https://ec.europa.eu/info/brexit/brexit-preparedness/citizens-rights_en. Furthermore, UK nationals can find details of each system on the FCO “living in guides” on gov.uk.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will list the professional qualifications which will no longer be automatically recognised in the EU in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Robin Walker
Currently, UK professionals benefit from automatic recognition of their professional qualifications by EU member states for seven professions: nurses, midwives, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, architects and veterinary surgeons. All other qualifications are only recognised if they are deemed to be of an equivalent standard to the EU Member State’s own standards. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, UK nationals will no longer have access to the EU’s reciprocal system of automatic professional qualification recognition.
UK nationals seeking recognition to practice regulated professions in the EU after a no deal exit would have to check the national policies and rules of the relevant Member State in which they intend to practice. The Government has published advice for UK professionals seeking to have their qualifications recognised in EU member states in the event of ‘no deal’ on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the number of UK nationals who (a) work in the Schengen area and (b) live in the Schengen area and have less than five years' residency.
Answered by Robin Walker
We estimate that there are around 1 million UK nationals living in the EU. We do not at present hold data on the number of UK nationals who work in the Schengen area, nor the number of those who live in the Schengen area with less than five years’ residency.
The deal we’ve reached will provide EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU with certainty about their rights going forward. Indeed, the Government has been clear that in any scenario, including no deal, EU citizens and their family members living here by exit day will be able to stay. EU citizens resident in the UK by exit day are able to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to secure their status. The scheme fully opened on 30 March and over 800,000 applicants have applied. Applications to the scheme are free.
In a no deal, following extensive engagement by the Government, we are pleased that all Member States have now made commitments to protect the rights of UK nationals in the EU and have guaranteed that UK nationals legally resident by exit day will be able to stay. We continue to encourage Member States to fully reciprocate our offer and communicate plans as soon as possible.