Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:02 pm on 8 June 2021.
Thank you very much. Sorry, I didn't realise I was unmuted. Thank you very much indeed for the statement, Jane Hutt. I think it's really good to know how much attention is being paid to this important matter, certainly for many, many of my constituents. I thank you for the money you've invested in Newfields Law, the CAB and the voluntary organisation, Settled. I was very interested in your latest estimate of the numbers affected by this measure. So, we can see that of the nearly 88,000 people who've applied, 40 per cent have still only got pre-settled status and you do wonder why people are being given this pre-settled status when we're talking about people who've been here for years and years, in the main.
And, in addition to that, it enables us to see that there are approximately 7,000 people who have yet to apply, and may not even be aware that they are required to do so. As the Plaid spokesperson earlier pointed out, many people are digitally excluded and I particularly worry for those on limited incomes, either living on savings or a small pension or those on modest wages, who may simply not realise that you don't actually have to pay to apply for settled status, even though there are—