Government ordered to publish equality statement on EU settlement scheme

Article summary

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) has announced that the UK's data watchdog has ordered the Home Office to publish a statement setting out the equality impacts of the EU settlement scheme. It follows months of pressure by the JCWI, and refusal by the government, to release a Policy Equality Statement. JCWI believes the scheme will 'force significant numbers of EU citizens and non-EU family members out of status after the cut-off point next year' and that 'with so much at stake,' the Home Office should take every effort to protect people but are instead keeping the risks ‘a secret’. The Home Office have 35 days to publish the equality statement or 28 days to appeal.