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.
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 Compensation Scheme to people experiencing psychological trauma resulting from discrimination because they could not prove their right to stay in the UK.
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.
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 Compensation Scheme for people who experienced discrimination from public services because they could not prove their right to stay in the UK.
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.
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.
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.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to increase the number of full time equivalent staff working on processing Windrush Compensation Scheme claims.
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.
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: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to grant victims of the Windrush scandal the right to have a hearing at the Home Office.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
If an individual is dissatisfied with the outcome of their compensation claim, they can ask the Home Office to review its decision. This will be an internal independent review by someone who has not been involved in the individual’s case (Tier 1 review).
If an individual remains dissatisfied, they can then request an external independent review (Tier 2 review). Their claim will be looked at by the Adjudicator’s Office.
The Adjudicator’s Office is a separate organisation, independent of the Home Office who can look at, among other things, whether the department has followed its policies, and the use of discretion by the Windrush Compensation Team.
The compensation scheme is intended to properly compensate members of the Windrush generation and to deliver on the commitment to right the wrongs that were experienced, while avoiding the need for court proceedings. We think this is in the best interests of those affected.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the backlog of applications for full compensation following mistakes by the Home Office regarding migration or residence status.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Windrush Compensation Scheme was launched in April 2019 to compensate members of the Windrush generation and their families for the losses and impacts they have suffered as a result of being unable to demonstrate their lawful immigration status in the United Kingdom.
The current number of claims that are awaiting a decision at all stages of the initial consideration process, referred to as ‘Work in Progress’ (WIP), for the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published in the Transparency Data release. The latest data was published on 13th January 2023 and can be found at: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: November 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The relevant page is WCS 05 - Total WIP and Age.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential for the Windrush Compensation Scheme application form to serve as a barrier to people wishing to apply for compensation with particular regard to (a) its complexity and (b) the nature of information it requires.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In response to question UIN: 41960
Any information provided as part of a compensation claim is solely used for the purpose of assessing that claim. Information provided as part of a compensation claim is held on a separate system, and is not shared outside of the compensation team. Information provided as part of a compensation claim would never be passed on to Immigration Enforcement or used as part of enforcement action.
Immigration Enforcement have put in place safeguards to ensure members of the Windrush generation are not subjected to enforcement action. Whenever a person is encountered who claims to be a member of the Windrush generation or to be in the UK lawfully, they are referred to the Windrush Help Team to consider their case and, if appropriate, issue documentation under the Windrush (status) Scheme confirming their right to be in the UK. No enforcement action is taken against individuals whose status is under review by the Windrush Help Team, or who have an ongoing Windrush (status) Scheme application.
Anyone is free to submit a claim to the Windrush Compensation Scheme, irrespective of whether they are actually eligible for compensation. It is possible for a person who is in the UK unlawfully, and who is not a member of the Windrush generation, to submit an unmeritorious compensation claim. They may, rightly, be subject to enforcement action on the basis of information obtained by Immigration Enforcement independently. We do not hold data on how many compensation claimants have later faced enforcement action.
In response to question UIN: 41961
Since its launch, the Home Office has continued to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders about how the Scheme operates and its accessibility. In response to feedback, we have re-designed the primary claim form to make it easier to complete.
We have designed the compensation scheme to be as clear and simple as possible, so people do not need legal assistance to make a claim. We have published a redesigned primary claim form which now has a Crystal Mark from the Plain English Campaign, demonstrating our commitment to ensuring the scheme is accessible and as easy to use as possible.
The new form includes more targeted and closed questions to help people understand and provide the key information we need from them. We believe the new form will improve peoples’ experiences of applying to the scheme and help to speed up the processing of claims by reducing the amount of additional information and evidence we must ask people to provide.
We have made the evidential threshold as low as possible. Our intent is to ask for the minimum evidence necessary to reduce the burden on individuals, whilst maximising the offers we can make. In doing so we are seeking to strike the right balance between ensuring the scheme is comprehensive and covers the broadest range of circumstances, whilst also making it easy to navigate.
However, for those who want or need support to make a claim, the Home Office provides free assistance in making applications through our independent claims assistance provider - We Are Digital. The Windrush Compensation Scheme Help Team can also assist individuals should they have questions about the claim form or process.
We continue to work extensively with communities and stakeholders to raise awareness of the Scheme and encourage affected individuals to apply.