All applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme will be able to submit their biometric photograph via their online application. There is no charge for this.

Family members who are not EEA or Swiss nationals and do not already hold a Biometric Residence Card will also need to enrol a biometric photograph and fingerprints, excluding children who are 4 years old and under - they do not need to enrol fingerprints. The Home Of-fice estimates that only a small cohort (less than 5%) of the overall EU Settlement Scheme co-hort will need to submit their biometrics fingerprints.

When required, biometric fingerprint enrolment will take place at one of 57 UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) centres across the UK, run by Sopra Steria, our commercial partner. Six of the locations can be used without any appointment charge being incurred. The remaining locations attract an appointment charge of £60 at an enhanced service point or £200 for the premium lounge in London. Additional charges also apply at each of the 57 sites for out of hours appointments It is a matter for the customer to decide which location to attend.

Our commercial partner, Sopra Steria, undertook market research to identify service locations; their research included the impact on customers of travel time, cost and accessibility. The 6 core service centres that offer free appointments have been sized and located based on projected customer footfall information, providing coverage for customers across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The majority of the service point locations are situated in town and city centres and close to transport links and 62% of customers will, on average, have to travel less than 25 miles to visit a core service centre, with 78% travelling less than 50 miles

The bid criteria is commercially sensitive and therefore not published, however all bids were evaluated against a set criteria and as such the solution that Sopra Steria Ltd proposed was evaluated as per the other bidders against the statement of requirements and evaluation criteria.

Information on the number of applications for Biometric enrolment received from specific addresses is not collated centrally as part of the production of the quarterly Immigration Statistics. Biometric enrolment is a key requirement for the majority of visa application types.

The nearest available published information relates to total in-country migration transparency data on applications , latest edition at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-february-2019

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. Sopra Steria Ltd did the analysis as part of their submission. I would refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to UIN 251272 on the 13th May 2019.

UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UK VCAS) centres are run by Sopra Steria Ltd (SSL) on behalf of UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI).
Sopra Steria, undertook market research to identify initial service locations; their research included the impact on customer travel time, cost and accessibility. There are currently six core sites across the UK at which application submission services are offered free of charge and beyond that, SSL offer a range of enhanced services in a further 50 locations. These services enable customers to submit their biometric information (photo and fingerprints) and supporting evidence in one location. 62% of customers will, on average, have to travel less than 25 miles to visit a core service centre, with 78% travelling less than 50 miles. Appointments may be offered for individual customers and/or family groups to enrol their biometrics together.

SSL continue to assess customer demand, working closely with UKVI, and are planning to open a further 6 enhanced service locations throughout May and June, one of which will be offered in Edinburgh.

SSL are required to provide locations that comply with the Equality Act 2010 (including full compliance with the disability discrimination provisions) and biometric capture solutions are suitable for different customer groups, including customers with disabilities.

For customers who are eligible to apply using the Service and Support Centres (SSCs), it is estimated that 62% of customers will be within 30 miles of their nearest service centre and customers who meet certain criteria, which may include people of limited means; will be able to apply for travel assistance.