Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

‘My advice is that under the Withdrawal Agreement Section 15 .3 an S1 was not due for cancellation until the five years had expired 

It appears that the S1 request is subjected to further rules and information requirement other than what is laid down in the Withdrawal Agreement signed by the British Government

I therefore formally require Under The Freedom of Information Act the complete process and protocols being implemented under Section 15.’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 21 November 2024.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

Our response

The S1 certificate is a healthcare entitlement which is legislated by EC regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009. The relevant articles in the Withdrawal Agreement are contained in Title III “Coordination of Social Security Systems”.

Article 15 of the Withdrawal Agreement covers “The right of permanent residence”. This article is not relevant to the healthcare related S1 certificate issued by the UK and relates to S2 certificates. Therefore, no protocols or procedures are implemented by the NHSBSA Overseas Health Service (OHS) under Article 15.

Information on EC regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009 can be found via the below links:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/883/contents

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2009/987/contents

Please see the below link for the relevant articles within the Withdrawal Agreement:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eut/withdrawal-agreement/part/TWO/title/III

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing, the data please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2025” Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.