PRO FORMA FOR GRANT SCHEME
As the Home Office delivers the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), it is critical there are clear plans and arrangements in place to accommodate the broad needs of citizens that it expects will need to apply for the EUSS.

The Home Office has put a range of measures in place to ensure that the EUSS is accessible and that all applicants are handled with flexibility and sensitivity. However, ensuring that the most vulnerable EU citizens and at-risk communities are engaged and supported is essential.

The voluntary and community sector (VCS) plays a vital role in representing people who are unable to advocate for themselves, and engagement has been carried out with a range of VCS organisations to ensure that the right support and programmes are in place to protect those most in need.

The Home Office will soon be launching a full campaign, which will seek to create a network of eligible VCS organisations who can raise awareness of the EUSS amongst vulnerable EU citizens and their family members, and to provide EUSS application assistance to those who need it. Organisations will be provided with a tailored communications toolkit, to help inform vulnerable, at-risk and marginalised individuals around the EUSS. There will also be outreach events and training sessions organised to provide organisations with greater detail and support.

Grant Scheme
To enable organisations to support those most at-risk, a key first step in this campaign is a Grant Scheme. Today, the Home Office is pleased to announce notice of its Grant Scheme, expected to award between £5 and 9million to fund VCS organisations in delivering practical assistance to vulnerable or at-risk EU citizens and their family members, and to provide them with end-to-end support to apply.

Extensive engagement with VCS organisations has helped to shape the development of this Grant Scheme. However, the Home Office is seeking to refine the approach and assess provision for support services before formally launching the open competition, expected to commence at the end of November 2018.

Interested VCS organisations are invited to take part in an engagement teleconference to find out more information about the EUSS, the Grant Scheme process and the wider campaign, and to give organisations an opportunity to ask the Home Office questions. There will be several repeat teleconferences taking place on 7 and 8 November, to ensure as many organisations as possible have the chance to take part.

To sign up to attend a teleconference, and for more information on the Grant Scheme, please go to the Contract Finder Notice on GOV.UK. If you have any specific questions, you can email: EUSSgrants@homeoffice.gov.uk. For further information on the EU Settlement Scheme, please see below.

EU Settlement Scheme
EU citizens living in the UK and their family members will need to apply under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS). The straightforward system is designed to make it easy for them to obtain their new UK immigration status.
The EU Settlement Scheme is in private beta testing and will be open fully by 30 March 2019. The deadline for applications will be 30 June 2021.
More details on how EU citizens and their families can obtain settled status in the UK is found in the statement of intent, which confirms that:

• Applications will be via a short online process.
• Most EU citizens will only need to prove their identity, demonstrate their residence in the UK and declare whether they have any criminal convictions (we will check that they are not a serious or persistent criminal).
• It will cost £65 for those aged 16 years or more and £32.50 for children under 16.
• It will be free for those with valid documented permanent residence or valid indefinite leave to remain or enter.

EU citizens can sign up with theFSI for regular email updates on EU citizens’ rights and the EU Settlement Scheme from the UK Government.

The NHS across North West London is today launching a new mum and baby app – a personal guide for pregnancy, birth and beyond.

The app was developed by mums, midwives and doctors in North West London and charity CW+ to provide women with a single source of trusted NHS information for all their maternity needs.

From the start of pregnancy to early parenthood, this app will support women and their families with:

• Choice on where in North West London they would like to give birth and how they would like their birth to go
• access to essential information every step of the way from being pregnant, to giving birth and looking after a new baby

• personalised plans for their care during pregnancy, birth and beyond.

Leo Mead who lives in Ealing and is expecting her first baby in December said:
“I really like the app, the fact that all the information provided is from the NHS makes it feel very comforting. I never knew there was so much to know and this app helps to keep it all in one place. Being able to note my thoughts, questions and feelings also means it’s easier to remember things I want to discuss when I have appointments with my midwife.” 

The app aims to improve women’s experiences of maternity care and ensures that the information they receive is consistent no matter where they choose to give birth in the local area.

Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, Head of Maternity, Children and Young People for NHS England, said: “This new app shows what is possible when we embrace modern technology. It now also means that we are able to offer personal care to women and their families in North West London by ensuring they can access information quickly and easily which will help give women and clinicians their valuable time back’.

Baroness Julia Cumberlege, Chair of the National Maternity Review, ‘Better Births’, said: “The mum & baby app shows how we can harness digital technology to deliver innovation in the NHS. This maternity app supports women and families to understand their choices, especially around choosing their place of birth, which pregnant women have told us how important this is to them.”

“The NHS in North West London have shown the potential of ‘digital’ to enhance services which deliver choice and personalisation to women, and empowers women to make shared decisions and manage their own care throughout their pregnancy, birth and beyond.”

Doctor Sunita Sharma, Consultant Obstetrician from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “The North West London mum and baby app represents an innovative way in which these local maternity services have come together to provide women and their families with consistent NHS information on how to look after themselves and their babies in an easily accessible format. I think this is great step forward for our maternity services.”

 Download it!
This helpful new app is available for download on both Apple and Android just go to your app store and search ‘mum and baby’.

Click the image above for a short video with details on the apps features

Ask us anything!
If there is anything you are unsure about or you have a question that you haven’t been able to ask your midwife, ask us!

Post questions on Twitter with #askthemidwifenwl

Ayesha Baker
Communications Manager
North West London Communications Team
North West London Collaboration of Clinical Commissioning Groups
2nd floor, 15 Marylebone Rd, London, NW1 5JD

email: ayesha.baker@nhs.net
Direct line: 020 3350 4639
Mobile: 0773 3484 891
web: www.healthiernorthwestlondon.nhs.uk
twitter: @HealthierNWL