AN IMPASSIONED plea to help EU citizens living in West Oxfordshire prepare for Brexit fell flat, leading to cries of ‘shame!’ in a council chamber.

West Oxfordshire District Council discussed a motion to send information to the 2,500 EU citizens living in the district at its meeting on Wednesday, October 23.

There was a plea to take action by Liberal Democrat councillor Carl Rylett, who said he ‘could not think of a motion which could be more timely.’

Mr Rylett said: “There’s never been a more pertinent time for this council to remember our duty to all of our citizens' rights.”

The councillor, whose wife is from Italy, submitted the motion alongside the council’s Lib Dem group leader Andrew Graham.

In it, they proposed that officers should report on how the council can mitigate the impact of Brexit on the rights of EU nationals.

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The two councillors also asked for the leader of the council to write to EU citizens living in the district to give advice on applying for settled status.

Mr Rylett also criticised the government for treating EU citizens as ‘cash cows’.

The last part of his motion included that the leader of the council writes to the Home Secretary suggesting a review of charges and waivers for applications for British citizenship and improvements for the European settlement scheme, including physical proof of settled status, which currently does not exist.

But the council chairman, Harry Eaglestone, said he was minded not to debate the motion.

Instead he used his power as the chairman to send it to the economic and social overview and scrutiny committee for discussion.

The committee’s next scheduled meeting is Thursday, November 21.

Mr Eaglestone said: “I consider this important topic needs to be considered with the assistance of officers' input and advice as to the decision generally and the role of the council.”

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The chairman added the decision was not time critical because the earliest possible deadline for EU residents to apply for settled status is in December 2020.

As the chairman announced his decision, there were shouts of ‘shame!’ and ‘undemocratic!’ from the Liberal Democrat and Labour members of the council.

WODC is not the first district council in Oxfordshire to consider giving advice to EU citizens about applying for settled status.

In early October, Oxford City Council started giving advice via its website to the EU citizens living in the city about how to make an application.

Vale of White Horse district council wrote to the Home Secretary to clarify the settlement scheme after its meeting on October 9.

This included a proposal for a physical document to prove settled status and a clear deadline for applications.