Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Question 202774, whether the proposed ex-gratia payment scheme for former child migrants will be open to all surviving child migrants including those migrated from the UK prior to the Second World War.

On 19 December the Government published its response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Interim Report and its report on Child Migration Programmes. The Government response outlines the Prime Minister’s decision to ensure that former child migrants receive a payment as soon as possible, in recognition of the fundamentally flawed nature of the historic child migration policy. It is our intention that the ex-gratia payment scheme is set up as quickly as possible, and further details will be provided shortly.

Discussions with both the Northern Ireland Executive and the Scottish Government have already taken place and will continue as our work progresses.

The ex-gratia payment scheme will be open to all former child migrants and will indeed include those migrated prior to the Second World War.