Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of compensation payments made under the Windrush scheme to former armed forces personnel.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Windrush Compensation Scheme is designed to compensate members of the Windrush generation and their families for the losses and impacts they have suffered because they were unable to demonstrate their lawful immigration status.
The scheme acts as a single gateway for compensation in fourteen categories covering a broad range of impacts, including denial of access to services and a deterioration in mental or physical health. There is no cap on the amount of compensation we will pay. This is in recognition of the wide-reaching ways people have been affected.
Since its launch, the Home Office has continued to listen and respond to feedback from affected individuals and stakeholders about the scheme, expanding and amending it as our understanding of the way people have been affected has improved. In August 2022 we expanded the homelessness category and introduced a completely new ‘Living Costs’ category for close family members.
Compensation payments are made as quickly as possible. Decision makers draw upon all the evidence that has been provided and gathered, to make a holistic assessment of the effect on an individual’s life. Each person’s claim is deeply personal and requires careful and detailed consideration to understand their individual circumstances and experiences. All claims are processed with the utmost care and sensitivity.
Oct. 04 2023
Source Page: National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 amendments - Windrush Compensation Scheme: equality impact assessmentFound: National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 amendments - Windrush Compensation Scheme
Mentions:
1: O'Kane, Paul (Lab - West Scotland) that is still owed to individuals as a result of other scandals, such as the infected blood and Windrush - Speech Link
2: Wishart, Beatrice (LD - Shetland Islands) away and will not see the justice that they sought.The irony is not lost that WASPI women are from the generation - Speech Link
3: Gibson, Kenneth (SNP - Cunninghame North) benefits rose by 315 per cent, while working-age out-of-work benefit claims increased by 472 per cent.That generation - Speech Link
4: Baker, Claire (Lab - Mid Scotland and Fife) The Post Office Horizon cases, the contaminated blood scandal and the Windrush compensation scheme all - Speech Link
5: Grahame, Christine (SNP - Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) —that the maximum level of compensation is £2,950. - Speech Link
Sep. 20 2023
Source Page: Home Secretary pays tribute to the Windrush Working GroupFound: Home Secretary pays tribute to the Windrush Working Group
Mentions:
1: George Howarth (Lab - Knowsley) Members mentioned, every generation experiences injustices. - Speech Link
2: Stuart C McDonald (SNP - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) In that, there would be a parallel with the Windrush scheme, where concerns about the slowness of decision - Speech Link
3: Jim Shannon (DUP - Strangford) She deserves credit for that.We know that lady’s generation well. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Jim Shannon (DUP - Strangford) a commitment earlier that I would give everyone else a chance to contribute.The WASPI women are the generation - Speech Link
2: Jim Shannon (DUP - Strangford) Importantly, it is a recognition of the place in history held by this wonderful post-war generation of - Speech Link
3: Kenny MacAskill (Alba - East Lothian) similar injustices that have taken place in our society: Horizon, which is ongoing, the blood scandal, Windrush - Speech Link
4: Mick Whitley (Lab - Birkenhead) Unlike hundreds of thousands of other women of her generation, this scandal did not condemn her to destitution - Speech Link
5: Ben Lake (PC - Ceredigion) the Pensions Act 2011.I want to reinforce the point, mentioned by others, that we are talking about a generation - Speech Link
Estimate memoranda Feb. 28 2024
Committee: Home Affairs Committee (Department: Home Office)Found: These include issues around the Windrush generation , moder n slavery and tackling illegal migration
Mentions:
1: Lord Rosser (LAB - Life peer) generation, would we be talking about an average compensation payment of just £37,500? - Speech Link
2: Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick (CB - Life peer) For so many who came on the HMT “Empire Windrush”, and for the Windrush generation, it was pride: they - Speech Link
3: Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (LAB - Life peer) Windrush generation has made to our country.The Windrush scandal—or perhaps I should say “Home Office - Speech Link
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: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to allocate additional funds to the Windrush Compensation Scheme; and if she will make a statement to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush in Britain.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Scheme has reached its public commitment of deploying 154 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Executive Office (EO) Decision Makers by Quarter 2 2023. The Scheme also continues to run ongoing recruitment campaigns to ensure the necessary level of staffing is maintained and has continued to backfill those who leave.
As set out by the Home Secretary at the Windrush Working Group Meeting on 24 January 2023, additional experienced EO decision makers have also been deployed on a temporary basis to assist with accelerating decision making; these staff are in addition to meeting the public commitment to post 154 substantive EO decision makers recruited.
Regarding allocating additional funds to the Windrush Compensation Scheme, there is no cap on the amount of compensation the 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.