Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department are taking to improve the speed of delivery of full compensation under the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

The Windrush Compensation Scheme is determined to ensure everyone who was affected receives every penny of the compensation to which they are entitled at the earliest point possible. The scheme is making significant progress towards achieving this aim. As of the end of January 2024, the scheme had paid over £80 million in compensation and over 82% of claims received had been given a final decision.

The time to allocate a claim for a substantive casework consideration has been reduced significantly, from 18 months to under 4 months. The 4-month period includes all essential eligibility checks, together with a Preliminary Assessment to make an initial payment of £10,000 wherever possible.

However, each person’s claim is deeply personal and deserves to be processed with the utmost care and sensitivity so that the maximum payment can be made to them.