Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has provided the Department for Work and Pensions on the continued payment of universal credit to people who are (a) awaiting a decision about their EU Settled Status applications or (b) appealing a rejection of their EU Settled Status application.

The Citizens’ Rights (Application Deadline and Temporary Protection) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 protect existing relevant EU law rights. EEA citizens and their family members who were lawfully resident in the UK at the end of the transition period and apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) by the 30 June deadline, have their rights protected until the final determination of an application, including through any appeal.

There is a system-to-system service between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Home Office, which will in most cases confirm a pending application to the EUSS automatically.

We continue to work closely with DWP to ensure anyone whose rights are protected by making an in-time application to the EUSS will continue to receive benefits. DWP have provided staff with guidance.