Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they anticipate having paid compensation in full to claimants of the Windrush Compensation Scheme.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
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 and has paid over £80 million in compensation as of January 2024. However, each person’s claim is deeply personal and deserves to be processed with the utmost care and sensitivity. This holistic approach necessarily takes time but is ultimately beneficial to individuals.
The Scheme does not therefore, impose time limit targets for concluding claims.
The Scheme has reduced the time to allocate a claim for a substantive casework consideration, 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. The Scheme has no end date so that people are not prevented from claiming compensation and there is no cap on the amount of compensation that will be paid overall.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of Windrush Compensation Scheme claims they have paid in full so far.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Information on the total number of Windrush Compensation Scheme claims that have received a compensation payment is published as part of the Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of January 2024, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: January 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
As of January 2024, over £80 million has been paid in compensation across 2,233 claims.
An individual could have more than one claim under the Windrush Compensation Scheme rules, for example as a primary claimant, close family member, or as a representative of an estate. In addition, a claim may receive a preliminary, interim and/or full and final payment.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
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.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
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.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in each quarter since the Windrush Compensation scheme was launched, how many people who received an award applied (a) fewer than three months, (b) three to six months, (c) six to 12 months and (d) more than a year before the award.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Windrush Compensation Scheme’s priority is to ensure people receive the maximum compensation as quickly as possible.
The time taken to allocate a claim for a substantive casework consideration has been reduced 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.
Information on the time taken from a claim being received to a compensation payment is not published.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals have requested the total sum of their Windrush compensation award be reviewed for each quarter since April 2019.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Information relating to how many individuals have requested the total sum for their Windrush Compensation award offer to be reviewed is included in the Windrush Compensation Scheme Transparency Data, which is published regularly.
As set out in the Windrush Compensation Scheme Casework Guidance published online, claimants can request a review of the decision to refuse all or part of their claim. Detailed data is not published on which specific category a claimant requests to be reviewed.
The latest published data, covering the period up to November 2023, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-data-november-2023.
The relevant data can be found on page WCS_09.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people whose application for an award under the Windrush Compensation Scheme has been denied have appealed in each quarter since that scheme was launched.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Information on the number of Windrush Compensation Scheme claimants, who have requested a review of their full and final decision, is included in the Windrush Compensation Scheme Transparency Data, which is published regularly. However, the publication does not distinguish between reviews requested on the basis of the claim being awarded a zero entitlement decision (denied), or where the claimant is not satisfied with the value offer received.
The latest published data, covering the period up to December 2023, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: December 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The relevant page is WCS_09, which contains details of the cumulative number of reviews requested at Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 2 reviews are completed by an Independent Adjudicator outside of the Home Office.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have received an award from the Windrush Compensation Scheme in each quarter since that Scheme was launched.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
An individual could have more than one claim under the Windrush Compensation Scheme Rules, for example as a primary claimant, close family member, or as a representative of an estate. In addition, a claim may receive a preliminary, interim and/or full and final payment.
Data on the total number of people who have received a compensation payment is not published. Transparency Data shows how many claims have received a payment under the scheme.
The latest published data, covering the period up to November 2023, is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-data-november-2023. WCS_03 refers; Value of Windrush Compensation Scheme payments made.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is (1) the average compensation payment under the Windrush Compensation schemes for those wrongly deported, and (2) the compensation payment now being proposed for those sub-postmasters wrongly imprisoned as a result of Post Office action.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Data on how much compensation has been paid by the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published as part of the regular transparency data release. The latest data release can be found here, covering the period up to end of November 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-data-november-2023. Data on average payments made to individuals suffering specific losses is not reported on regularly.
Individuals who were wrongly imprisoned due to errors caused by the Horizon system will become eligible for a £600,000 up-front payment, or alternatively they can choose to have their claim fully assessed via the individual claim assessment process.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Windrush Compensation Scheme have been denied in each quarter since the scheme was launched.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Information relating to the number of Windrush Compensation Scheme claim outcomes which have either been rejected on the grounds of eligibility as they do not quality for consideration under the Scheme, or found to have zero entitlement to compensation following a full consideration, is included in Windrush Compensation Scheme Transparency Data which is published regularly. The latest published data, covering the period up to November 2023, is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-data-november-2023. The relevant page is WCS_04.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the time taken to process claims to the Windrush Compensation Scheme from people in Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
I have regular discussions with Home Office ministers on a range of issues and I recognise the contribution of the Windrush Generation to Wales. I was pleased to meet the Windrush Cymru Elders at the Mission Seafarers in Newport on 31 October 2023.
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 November 2023, the scheme had paid over £75 million in compensation and over 78% 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.