Statement on IMA comment on the Home Office ‘granted in error’ policy

Today, the Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA) issued a statement on Expiry of Status Granted in Error. 

We thank the IMA for recognising this problem and for examining the Home Office’s practice of allowing pre-settled status granted in error to expire without the safeguards and appeal rights required by the Withdrawal Agreement.

This issue was entirely foreseeable. During the passage of legislation, the3million and the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) wrote to the Home repeatedly. We pressed for amendments to ensure that a person whose status was later alleged to have been granted in error would receive the same procedural protections as any other EU Settlement Scheme status holder facing cancellation of their status. Those amendments were not accepted. Since June last year, we have raised the issue at each meeting of the EU-UK Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights. The joint statement issued after the most recent meeting in May this year reflects that the EU Commission shares our concern.

We have continued to raise concerns through evidence, working with lawyers to help people impacted by this policy, and Freedom of Information requests. There is a need for transparency about the scale of impact of this policy. Our FOI sought information on how many people the Home Office considers had been granted pre-settled status in error. The FOI revealed that in March alone there were at least 90 such cases where individuals had been notified, with more possibly identified, due to data only being logged for cases where an individual was issued with a notification, rather than the number of cases flagged by caseworkers.

We share the concerns raised by other organisations that this problem likely disproportionately impacts EU citizens and their family members from racialised and ethnic minorities. 

We urge the Home Office to work with the IMA to urgently change their ‘granted in error’ policy, to ensure that no one loses their rights without a lawful decision, an individual proportionality assessment, and an effective right of appeal.