The Home Secretary has agreed to make key changes to the settled status scheme to make it fairer, following a legal claim by our clients, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI). During the litigation, the Home Secretary has adopted many of JCWI’s requests to make sure that the rules for settled status better reflects what the Government told everyone about the scheme, and results in more proportionate and fairer decision making. Following key concessions to the claim (1) by the Home Secretary, JCWI have today withdrawn their claim and will pursue their outstanding concerns about the scheme via their campaign and policy work (2).

  1. Further information about the legal concessions made can be made available upon request. The concessions are contained within the amendments to Appendix EU of the Immigration Rules dated 21 December 2018 and the publication of the updated guidance to caseworkers on 21 January 2019, and also a ministerial statement confirming that an applicant will not be refused settled status under the scheme because they are not economically active, their employment is not full-time or they do not hold comprehensive sickness insurance. A consent order settling the claim was filed at court on 1 March 2019.
  2. More information about JCWI’s areas of concerns and proposals for reform can be found here.

Notes:

The Settled Status scheme is the UK Government’s provision for EU citizens to continue living in the UK after Brexit.

The Public Law Project (PLP) is an independent national legal charity. PLP’s mission is to improve public decision-making and facilitate access to justice. We work through a combination of research and policy work; training, conferences and second-tier support; and legal casework including public interest litigation. Our strategic objectives include promoting and safeguarding the Rule of Law; ensuring fair systems for public decision making; and improving access to justice. PLP takes no position on the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. Our work around Brexit is intended to ensure that Brexit is a democratic success and Parliamentary sovereignty is strengthened; that the interests of disadvantaged groups are properly and effectively represented; and to ensure procedural fairness to those likely to be most affected by the Brexit process.