EU Settlement Scheme Grant Funding

EU citizens living in the UK and their family members will need to apply under the EU Scheme (EUSS) to obtain their new UK immigration status as the UK exits the EU.Those applying under the EUSS will need to complete a digital application form, which involves three key steps. They will need to prove their identity, show that that they live in the UK, and declare that they have no serious criminal convictions. Application fees will be £65 and £32.50 for children under 16 years. It will be free for those with valid documented permanent residence or valid indefinite leave to remain or enter, and also for looked after children. The EUSS will launch fully at the end of March 2019 and will remain open until the end of June 2021.

It is essential that vulnerable or at-risk EU citizens are supported with their EUSS application so that their status in the UK is protected. Extensive engagement with EU citizens and a range of stakeholders, including Voluntary & Community Sector (VCS) organisations, has found that providing funding to a range of VCS organisations, to support those that most need it, is essential. To enable VCS organisations to provide support, the Home Office has up to £9 million of grant funding to be awarded in FY19/20 to multiple bidders of small and large VCS organisations. The aim is to ensure grants are awarded across the UK so that funds are provided where support around the EUSS is most needed. The Home Office will aim to consider organisations who support a range of vulnerable or at-risk groups of EU citizens, across different nationalities and geographical reach. Following the teleconferences, the Home Office is keen to build on existing engagement around the grant funding in order to refine the approach before launching the open competition, expected late November 2018.

As part of the market engagement, the Home Office is inviting VCS organisations to complete an online questionnaire to give organisations the opportunity to provide feedback on the grant funding strategy, and to contribute their thoughts before the open competition is launched. This questionnaire is a key step in refining the detail of the grant funding, and in ensuring the best possible outcomes are achieved to support vulnerable EU citizens and their family members. To complete the questionnaire, please fill out and submit the form online by 12 noon on Friday 23 November 2018. To allow organisations the opportunity to prepare their responses offline, the questionnaire can also be found as an attachment.

Please click here to complete the online questionnaire.

Please note, part responses cannot be saved in the online form. Please do not submit the questionnaire by email.

The questionnaire is a vital input into refining the detail of the open competition. The questionnaire will be used (1) to inform capability, capacity and delivery expectations among VCS organisations and (2) to enable VCS organisations to contribute thoughts and feedback about the grant fund

Additional information: If you were unable to join one of the engagement teleconferences, please find the presentation attached.

CCS e-Sourcing Suite This notice outlines the market engagement exercise and outlines how this will be managed via the online service. However, the actual competition is managed electronically via the Crown Commercial Service's (CCS) eSourcing Suite. It is therefore strongly recommended that interested bidders register with CCS as a SUPPLIER as soon as possible to avoid delays in establishing your Supplier status, because it can take up to 10 working days to create an account. The following is a guide on how to register. However, the attached CCS instruction documents provide more detailed and comprehensive assistance. 1. Interested organisations must first be registered as a 'Supplier' on the eSourcing Suite to participate: If you have not already done so, please use the following link https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk. Be aware that registration can take up to 10 working days 2. Instructions on how to use the portal can be found in the attached 'e-Sourcing - Supplier Guidance'. This is a guide that CCS created so is not a Home Office document. The Home Office strongly urges all potential Bidders to make their own arrangement to fully familiarise themselves with the eSouring Suite in order to apply for this grant funding when the competition goes live. 3. To register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so. 4. If you do not have a DUNS number, please contact D&B UK directly on 0870 243 2344 (option 3), or online at http://www.dnb.co.uk/duns-form.asp. 5. Once registered as a Supplier on the portal, you should receive an email from CCS to activate your account. Please activate the account and the Home Office encourages you to familiarise yourself with the eSourcing Suite. 6. You should then wait for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) Grant Funding competition to go live and further instruction will be provided within the competition Contracts Finder advert concerning how to gain access to the competition on the CCS eSourcing system because the Home Office must link you to the EUSS Grant Funding competition as your registration does not automatically enable you to see the competition when it goes live; you must be linked by the Home Office. 7. Once the competition is live and you are added to the portal, all further communications including the submission of your online bid will be managed via the portal. 8. If you have any technical difficulties concerning the CCS eSourcing portal, neither the Home Office Commercial Grants Team nor those managing the fund will be able to assist as this is a CCS system so please contact the CCS eSourcing Team for help, if there is a technical issue with this CCS eSourcing web based system. 9. Test your