Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people granted (a) pre-settled status and (b) settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme have requested a share code in each month since the that scheme became operational.

Individuals granted pre-settled or settled status have had the option within the ‘view and prove your settled or pre-settled status’ service to share their status information for a variety of reasons since 30th September 2019. This is done by generating a ‘share code’ which can be given to a third party to provide them with time-limited access to the data. One of these options (‘work in the UK’) takes users to a separate Home Office service, which can also be used by individuals who have not been through the EU Settlement Scheme (holders of Biometric Residence Permits (BRP) and Biometric Residence Cards (BRC)).

The ability to share information via the online service(s) is entirely optional; EEA nationals can continue to rely on their passports or national ID cards until at least December 2020 to evidence their rights in the UK but can choose to use the online service if they wish. Those with a BRP/C can also continue to rely on their physical cards.

Data is collected on usage of the service for internal purposes, to help us make improvements to the service, and to inform how it is performing. Data relates to number of views on the service, rather than unique users, and it is not currently possible to identify whether those who go on to share their status have settled or pre-settled status.

Data on usage on the ‘view and prove’ service more generally will be published later this year, as part of the Home Office Transparency Data.