Hampshire County Council is welcoming news that 23,530 out of 43,000 of Hampshire’s EU citizens have already signed up to the Government’s EU Settlement Scheme, which is designed to protect the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.
Councillor Andrew Joy, Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Communities, Partnerships and External Affairs, said: “We are pleased to see from the latest figures that 23,530 people had signed up to the Government’s EU Settlement Scheme by the end of December 2019, showing levels of registrations in the area continue to increase.
“Since autumn 2018, the County Council has sought to provide assurance to its own staff and to signpost Hampshire residents to advice about the EU Settlement Scheme. We want to reassure all of Hampshire’s 43,000 EU residents that they are highly valued and very welcome here, and would like to encourage them to apply to the scheme, should they wish to do so.
The scheme, which involves an online registration process, has been designed specifically to enable those EU citizens, already lawfully based in the UK, to remain living and working in the UK after 30 June 2021.
Support and advice is available for those needing help with the online form or assistance with complex cases at the Citizens Advice Bureau. Citizens Advice Bureau Southampton has been funded by the Home Office to provide an EUSS support service to help vulnerable people in the region, and the Southampton Registration Service is offering an ID scanning service. Guidance about how to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme is set out on the Government’s webpage.
