‘Woeful’ compensation scheme for Windrush scandal must move faster, say campaigners
Supporters of the Justice4Windrush campaign include Outlander actor Colin McFarlane and TV presenter Jay Blades.
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Your support makes all the difference.The “woeful” compensation scheme for victims of the Windrush scandal must move faster amid “unacceptable” delays in payouts, according to a campaign backed by Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Annie Lennox.
The Justice4Windrush campaign is demanding “full and swift compensation” for victims, as the five-year anniversary of the scheme being launched in April 2019 approaches.
The scandal, which emerged in 2018, saw many British citizens, mostly from the Caribbean, denied access to healthcare and benefits and threatened with deportation despite having the right to live in the UK.
The Government promised to right the wrongs of what had happened but the compensation scheme has been repeatedly criticised for the speed at which claims are being processed and payments made.
Just over £75 million had been paid out by the end of November, according to the latest data, published by the Home Office earlier this month.
Of the claims in the system by the end of November, some 13% had been waiting at least 12 months to be processed.
A total of 1,018 preliminary claims had been paid by the end of November, the Home Office data showed.
This represents less than a fifth (17.2%) of the 5,923 claims which had final decisions made on them by that stage.
Backing the campaign, Outlander actor Colin McFarlane said the scandal is “not over, yet 90% of the country think it is”.
Describing the compensation scheme as “woeful”, he said it had “added insult to injury and merely prolonged the trauma and is yet another illustration of decades-long discrimination by the Home Office against migrants of colour.”
He added: “We need justice for the Windrush generation, now.”
Lennox said the issue should be “front and centre, to ensure that the Windrush generation are seen, heard and healed” and called for “an immediate stop to the tragic injustice of this Home Office scandal”.
Other high-profile supporters include actress Hannah Waddingham and television presenter Jay Blades.
The campaign, which has published an open letter demanding action, called for the reinstatement of the team dedicated to dealing with the fallout from the scandal, which was wound up last year.
The Home Office said in September that the transformation programme for change in the wake of the scandal would no longer be managed through a dedicated team but rather “embedded into the fabric of our everyday operations and activities”.
That came as the Windrush Working Group met for the final time, having been set up in June 2020 to bring community leaders together with senior representatives from Government departments.
The campaign said the reinstatement of the working group “is crucial”.
The letter, sent to both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, urged the political leaders to pledge full compensation to Windrush victims as part of their forthcoming general election manifestoes.
The campaign also repeated calls made previously to remove the compensation scheme from the Home Office, instead creating an independent and neutral body to operate it and make appeal decisions.
Martin Forde KC, the campaign’s legal adviser and the person appointed as the Home Office’s independent adviser when it introduced the claims scheme, said it had “left many victims in a state of limbo”, with “individuals being wrongly denied tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of compensation, and of families whose lives have been torn apart while they await an outcome”.
He added: “This is unacceptable and we are calling on the Home Office to move quickly to deliver compensation for eligible Windrushees.”
Last June marked the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush in the UK, commemorating the ship’s arrival in 1948, bringing people from the Caribbean who answered Britain’s call to help fill post-war labour shortages.
The Home Office has said it feels moving the scheme away from the department would disrupt the processing of claims and could lead to delayed payments.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Government remains absolutely committed to righting the wrongs of the Windrush scandal and making sure those affected receive the compensation they rightly deserve.
“We have paid more than £75 million in compensation and we continue to make improvements so people receive the maximum award as quickly as possible, whilst providing extensive support to help people access and apply to the compensation scheme.
“The scheme will remain open as long as it is needed, so no-one is prevented from making a claim. We are continuing to reach out to, and engage with, communities across the UK to encourage more people to come forward, ensuring they have correct information on whether they may be eligible and necessary guidance to support their application.”