Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to encourage and support digital literacy amongst older people to protect themselves against online fraud.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government recognises the importance of helping people develop the skills and awareness needed to protect themselves from online fraud. This includes the elderly who may be targeted specifically by criminals.
Earlier this year, the Government published an updated Fraud Strategy which set out a comprehensive response to fraud, with a focus on taking greater proactive action to reduce vulnerability and build resilience within all sectors of society. This includes:
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are also taking steps to increase digital literacy to help everyone safeguard themselves against wider online risks including fraud. This includes working with Ofcom, as the UK’s online safety regulator, to fund practical media literacy programmes that help people understand online content, including a specific project aimed at helping older adults spot false information online.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of hotel accommodation provided for asylum seekers.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Where there is substantive and reliable evidence that procurement would not be suitable, then it will not proceed.
The Home Office is making every effort to reduce our reliance on hotels through alternative forms of accommodation to limit the burden on the taxpayer.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of the total budget for the Windrush compensation scheme has been allocated.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There is no cap on the amount of compensation the Windrush Compensation Scheme will pay out. The Government is determined to right the wrongs for affected members of the Windrush generation and will ensure that all funding requirements are met.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time civil servants above Grade 7 have worked on the Windrush compensation scheme in each financial quarter since the scheme was established.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not hold this data in a reportable format.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the average time taken to complete an application for the Windrush compensation scheme in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has no published data to answer this question and the information is not readily available in a reportable format.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many claims for compensation under the Windrush compensation scheme have been awarded as of 15 June 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Information relating to the number of claims that have been paid compensation through the Windrush Compensation Scheme is included in Windrush Compensation Scheme Transparency Data, together with the Windrush Schemes Fact Sheet, both of which are published regularly.
The latest Transparency data for the Compensation Scheme was published on 1 June 2023, which covers the period up to the end of April 2023. Data covering the period of May 2023 up to 15 June 2023 has not been published yet.
The requested information can be found on Tab WCS_03 Windrush Compensation Scheme data: April 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The latest Windrush Schemes factsheet is available here: Windrush Schemes Factsheet – April 2023 - Home Office in the media (blog.gov.uk)
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the number of people who are eligible for compensation under the Windrush compensation scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
A revised assessment has been completed using operational data up to the 1st of April 2023, updated assumptions and the same methodology as previous assessments. This assessment will be announced in an upcoming impact assessment, which is currently being finalised.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applicants for compensation under the Windrush compensation scheme have died while waiting for a decision on their application.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Windrush Compensation Scheme staff are working hard to ensure cases are prioritised for claimants with critical or life-limiting illnesses.
In the unfortunate circumstances where a claimant has passed away after submitting a compensation claim, before the claim is fully resolved, the team continues to work closely with the appointed representative, usually members of the family, to ensure the compensation payment is made as quickly as possible to the family member.
At the end of April 2023, in line with the latest published Transparency data, out of the 6,122 claims received by the Windrush Compensation Scheme, we are aware of 41 claimants who have unfortunately passed away after having submitted a claim.
Please note that this data is manually recorded and is reliant on the person receiving the information on a claimant’s death, notifying the Windrush Compensation Scheme to record this information.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unsuccessful claims for compensation under the Windrush compensation scheme have been subject to appeal up to 1 June 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Windrush Compensation Scheme has established a review process for those dissatisfied with their compensation offer. First, a review can be conducted through an internal Home Office review by a senior decision maker not involved with the original decision (Tier 1). If someone is still dissatisfied, an independent review is conducted by the Adjudicator’s Office (Tier 2).
Information relating to the number of Windrush Compensation Scheme claims that applied for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 review is included in Windrush Compensation Scheme Transparency Data.
The latest Transparency data for the Compensation Scheme was published on 1 June 2023, which covers the period up to the end of April 2023. Data covering the period of May 2023 up to 1 June 2023 has not yet been published.
The requested information can be found on Tab WCS_09 Windrush Compensation Scheme data: April 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what has been the cost to public purse of services provided by the We Are Digital company for the Windrush compensation scheme as of 15 June 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not publish this information as it is deemed to be commercially confidential. Publishing this information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of both the Home Office and those companies with whom the Home Office enters contracts.