In consideration of the Lords amendments on the Immigration and Social Security Bill on 19 October, Stephen spoke in favour of amendment 5, which would require the Secretary of State to offer a physical document free of charge to any EEA citizen who applies for leave or has been granted leave under the EU settlement scheme.
Stephen raised the concerns of London First, that without physical proof legitimate migrants will struggle to prove their status in a context where employers, landlords and banks are required to perform immigration checks. Stephen also highlighted concerns from the Roma Support Group that many of those they support lack full digital access or literacy.
The EU settlement scheme statistics show that Newham had a total of 91,000 applications submitted—the biggest number of any local authority.
The amendment did not pass, with 260 for and 331 against. Stephen’s full speech can be read here.