EU nationals living in Newcastle are finding it impossible to get help from the council ahead of Brexit, according to opposition councillors.
The city’s Liberal Democrats have demanded the authority “gets its act together”, complaining that a service to help European citizens apply to stay in the UK has been inaccessible.
Coun Greg Stone will tell a full council meeting on Wednesday night that residents attempting to phone the council about its Identity Verification Service, which helps people with applications to the government’s EU Settlement Scheme, have had their calls disconnected and cannot book an appointment online.
In a motion due to be presented to councillors, he adds that council switchboard operators have given “vague answers that the service does not exist in Newcastle and they should apply online, despite there being no provision for this”.
A no-deal Brexit planning document released by the council on Monday also states that high demand for the ID-scanning service had led to increased waiting times for appointments.
Coun Stone said: "Our motion seeks to recognise and value the significant contribution EU citizens make to our city, whether as healthcare professionals, care workers, academics and students, or as key workers in our knowledge economy.
“In addition to making it clear they are an integral part of our city, we would like the council to safeguard their citizenship rights, as we are concerned that they are at risk of losing important rights on matters such as tenancies, access to health provision, and employment.
“The opposition has been made aware of frustrations on the part of EU citizens in Newcastle who have sought to access help and advice from the council on how they can apply for settled status, but who have wrongly been told by council contact centres that this service is not provided. We believe it is important that the council gets its act together on this quickly as time is running out."
Coun Stone’s motion states that only one third of UK-based EU nationals had applied for Settled Status by June, and that those unaware of the service are “at risk of becoming unlawful residents at the mercy of the Home Office’s Hostile Environment”.
The council’s no-deal planning document states: “We are supporting communities to access the EU Settlement Scheme. As part of the scheme, our Registration Service can support people in their application by scanning and verifying passports or biometric permits via an appointment process. Demand for this service has increased, we are able to meet this, however this has led to increased waiting time for appointments.
“We are putting in place additional resources to reduce this impact. We have also worked with third-party providers to assist them in raising awareness and fulfil appointments.”
Nick Forbes, the council’s Labour leader, has called on the government to give local authorities more funding to “support EU citizens living in the city, residents on the lowest income who will be the worst affected by increased costs and our businesses to navigate the economic shock Brexit will cause”.
Coun Stone said that the no-deal plan released on Monday morning was “too little too late from a complacent administration”.
