6th Special Report - Home Office delivery of Brexit: immigration: Government Response to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2017–19

This is the government's response, published 25 May 2018.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government sets out its position largely by pointing to the March 2018 agreement with the EU and to settlement scheme and recruitment plans, while disagreeing with the Committee's finding on assessment of the 'hostile environment'.

• It "understands the Committee's concerns" about the delayed White Paper, says progress has "addressed several of the Committee's recommendations", and will publish further details on the Settlement Scheme "in the coming months", ahead of launch "by the end of this year".
• On the Settlement Scheme, EU citizens resident by 31 December 2020 will have until 30 June 2021 to apply. The government says the draft Withdrawal Agreement allows a "reasonable further period of time" where there are reasonable grounds for missing the deadline.
• It disagrees that it has not assessed the 'hostile environment', citing a review of the right to rent scheme, and says it will "set out its plans in due course" for EU migration after the implementation period.
• On staffing, European Casework has "robust plans" to rise from 719 to 1,500 FTE for the start of the settlement scheme later this year, and Border Force "is in the process of recruiting an additional 300 frontline officers".

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