Windrush: Almost two years after announcing a compensation scheme only 17% of victims have received any payment

The Windrush Compensation Scheme was set up in April 2019 to help people affected as quickly as possible. Since the Compensation Scheme was launched, only 17% of people affected by the Tory government persecution and its hostile environment policy have received any form of payment.

Since the overhaul of the scheme in December 2020, early figures show an extra £4.5 million has now been offered to bring the total amount to over £8 million.

The Windrush Compensation Scheme has now offered or paid more than £8 million – with more than half of that offered in the past six weeks since Home Secretary Priti Patel overhauled the scheme.

Last month the Home Secretary implemented significant changes to the Windrush Compensation Scheme, increasing the minimum award under the Impact on Life category to £10,000.

Provisional figures released today show that since 15 December 2020, a further 238 offers have been made worth more than £4.5 million. Up until the end of November 2020, the scheme had paid or offered £3.7 million.

In March 2020 Priti Patel boosts compensation for Windrush victims saying ‘They were badly let down’: The announcement came after a long apology and stated compensation would be awarded from £250 to at least £10,000 – with the potential for some to receive more than £100,000.

Only 17% of Windrush victims who had made compensation claims had received payouts.

The Home office released new figures on Thursday, a day after previous statistics revealed around 17% of Windrush victims who had made compensation claims had received payouts.

According to those figures, a total of 1,761 claims were lodged by the end of December 2020, with 303 people receiving compensation totalling £2,869,068.16.

Eighty-four of the claims were for people who had already died, but only three payments for this particular kind of case have been recorded.

There had been appeals lodged against the decisions in more than 180 instances, while a further 144 eligible people were told they were not entitled to a payout because they could not demonstrate they had been adversely affected.Advertisement

A total of 101 claims were rejected on eligibility grounds, the figures showed.

On Thursday, the Home Office said “significant changes” to the compensation scheme made in December had seen an extra £4.5m offered to victims since then.

According to provisional figures, a further 238 offers have been made. Up to the end of November 2020, £3.7m had been paid or offered as compensation, the Home Office said.

“I am really pleased the changes we introduced to the scheme are having immediate impact, with more people receiving significantly higher payments, much more quickly,” Home Secretary Priti Patel said.

The changes were made in close consultation with members of the Windrush generation, community leaders, stakeholders and the Cross-Government Windrush Working Group co-chaired by Bishop Derek Webley.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said:

I am really pleased the changes we introduced to the scheme are having immediate impact, with more people receiving significantly higher payments, much more quickly.

The figures today show real progress and we must now keep up that momentum to help many more people get the compensation they deserve.

Bishop Derek Webley said:

Although it is early days, the impact of the changes made to the Compensation Scheme are starting to show. It is another step forward on our collective journey to acknowledge, support and improve the lives of those who were impacted by the Windrush scandal.

The new minimum award of £10,000 made in the Impact on Life category will be paid as a new early preliminary payment, as soon as someone applying on their own behalf or on behalf of a deceased relative, can show any impact on their life under the terms of the scheme. They do not need to wait for their whole application to be assessed.

The Windrush generation and the following very British scandal

The Windrush scandal emerged in 2018 when it was found that hundreds of Commonwealth citizens had been wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights, despite having the right to live in Britain.

Under the hostile environment legislation, announced in 2012 under then home secretary Theresa May, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government aimed to push out undocumented migrants.

But many of the Windrush generation, who arrived in the UK from Caribbean countries between 1948 and 1973, had arrived as children on their parents’ passports and the Home Office had destroyed thousands of landing cards and other documents.

As a result, many legal migrants struggled to prove they had the right to live in the UK under the new legislation, with some losing access to housing, healthcare and bank accounts.

To Apply to the Windrush Compensation Scheme follow this link