Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-UK EU citizens have been refused universal credit on the basis that they do not have a right to reside in each month since January 2017.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Comprehensive guidance outlining eligibility for Universal Credit for EEA Nationals and the habitual residency test is available to all staff across the Jobcentre network. Universal Credit guidance is published in the House of Commons Library and the Department is committed to refreshing this at regular intervals.

Eligibility for income-related (means-tested) social security benefits depends on a person’s immigration status in the UK. Claimants must be exercising a legal right to reside and be habitually resident before they are eligible to claim income related benefit. This is assessed through the Habitual Residence Test (HRT). DWP does not automatically provide other Government departments with information regarding an individual’s benefit claim. The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 and immigration decisions are the responsibility of the Home Office.