2. What discussions has the Welsh Government had about the number of European citizens who have registered to remain in Wales once the UK leaves the EU? OAQ54966

I have regular discussions with the UK Government, and with Welsh stakeholders, about the number of EU citizens who have applied for the EU settlement scheme in Wales, as do my officials. We as a Government have put in place a broad range of services to support EU nationals with their application, and continue to press the UK Government to provide further support to EU citizens here in Wales.

The report published this week by the3million organisation really encapsulates the anxiety, the anger, and the sense of being unwanted that all the people surveyed were feeling, even when they had already got settled status. It was disturbing to read, in the light of the Windrush scandal, that women, the self-employed, the unemployed, pensioners, students, and those out of work for medical reasons were all more likely to be asked for additional information. And many of these people have only received pre-settled status. In light of the anxiety expressed by all the respondents, and the sense that cut-and-paste phrases of friendship and protecting the rights of European citizens are encapsulated in the responses, it's really important that, instead of banging the bong on 31 January in a sense of triumphalism, we reach out with that hand of friendship to all the people who've lived in this country for many, many years. So, I just wondered what assurance the Welsh Government can give to people, based on your conversations with the UK Government, that families won't be split up in the long term, and that the settled status isn't anything more than just an exercise, and then attempting to get rid of people who are inconvenient.

I thank the Member for highlighting that very serious concern that a number of people have, and that I've had expressed to me directly as well—more or less in the terms in which the Member described them today. We have between 70,000 and 80,000 citizens living in Wales who were born in other parts of the EU, outside the UK, and we want them to stay in Wales and to continue making the full contribution that they do to our society and to our economy. I recognise entirely the point that she makes about the anxiety that many people feel in relation, in particular, to the question of being awarded only pre-settled status. I think, across the UK, the number of applications that result in that is currently running at around 44 per cent, which is pretty extraordinary really. I raised that point in terms, actually, with the UK Government, when I met with Ministers the week before last, and I was told that, effectively, pre-settled status becomes automatically settled status over time, which isn't in fact the case, as we know. And I've written to them to set the record straight, and to make the point that we need to do more to tackle this issue of concern.

As a Government, we have committed around, I think, £2 million to date, more or less, in seeking to communicate with people who should be taking steps to seek settled status in Wales. We've done that through—. We've recently had a new online campaign, but there's a large cohort of people for whom that won't be their main channel of communication. So we've been working with Settled and others to advertise, as it were, the availability of the scheme, and the various range of support that the Welsh Government, and other organisations, are making available, and seeking to target those in places like shops and cafes and churches, where EU citizens might be able to access that information in ways other than online. So we are seeking to find different channels to communicate with people, whilst at the same time I meet pretty regularly with Home Office officials, and take each opportunity to highlight some of the practical points that the Member makes in her question that are causing concern to so many people in Wales.

Minister, I think you've mainly answered my question just now in your answer to Jenny Rathbone. What plans does your Government have to work with the Westminster Government regarding the handling of the settled status of EU citizens, and what extra roles do you envisage for the Welsh Government, apart from what you're doing now?

We will continue with the work we have been doing. We've been funding various advice services and a communication campaign. We've also been pressing the UK Government in relation to the availability of digital scanning centres in Wales. The Member may be aware that, at the start, there was only one. We're looking at about seven, I think, at the moment, and are also pressing for an expansion of the assisted digital centre provision, which enables those EU citizens who need extra support to make the application. There are now, I think, 26 of those in Wales, and we've been pressing very hard over the period of time to ensure that those numbers increase, and with some success.

For most people, getting that extra support won't be necessary, but there'll be a significant cohort who do need that extra help in order to be able to register. But there are some design flaws in the scheme itself, which we are also pressing with the UK Government. One issue, which Members will be, I think, aware of, is the lack of a physical manifestation or document that encapsulates the settled status. Whilst most of us probably would be comfortable with having an online acknowledgement of that, which we can share with organisations and bodies and agencies if we wish, again, there will be a lot of people who will feel much more secure in having a piece of paper or a physical badge of that, and so, we've been pressing in relation to that point as well.