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New information published by the Home Office shows that just 12% of Windrush compensation claimants have received a pay-out. According to official figures, published on 29 October, 71 claims have been made for people who have died, but only three have been compensated.
The information also shows that a total of 1,587 claims have been made up until the end of September, with £1,619,291.42 paid out to 196 people, representing just 12% of people who have applied to the Windrush compensation scheme.
It’s understood that 124 claims have been appealed, while a further 81 eligible applicants were denied compensation after being told they were ‘not entitled to compensation because they did not demonstrate that they had been adversely affected by the scandal.’
£200 million budget
The Windrush compensation scheme reportedly has £200 million set aside to cover claims, but the pay-outs so far amount to less than 1% of the money set aside.
Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has previously described the compensation scheme as ‘complicated’, but was committed to speeding payments up.
The Windrush scandal has taken its toll on many British citizens, who were wrongly caught up in the UK’s hostile environment policy launched in 2018 by former Prime Minister and then Home Secretary, Theresa May.
Windrush campaigner Paulette Wilson died, aged 64, just weeks after delivering a petition to 10 Downing Street demanding urgent action to address the failings that resulted in the scandal and called on the government to act swiftly in compensating victims.
Friends of Ms Wilson said she died ‘a broken woman’ and struggled to complete complex claim forms.
Government failing to alert people to the scheme
Windrush campaigners have not only blasted the government’s slow response to pay-outs, but criticised ministers for failing to alert people to the scheme who have since left the UK and may have been victims.
Many of the claims received up to the end of September came from people still living in the UK (1,247). Less than 50 were from outside the UK, including 43 from the Caribbean and three from Africa.
While the deadline to apply for compensation was recently extended to April 2023, campaigners have accused the government of doing ‘very little’ to alert potential victims to the pay-out scheme.
In 2018, the treatment of Windrush migrants sparked a furious backlash from the British public, immigrant advocates and MPs.
A report into the scandal, published earlier this year, tore into the Home Office saying that the debacle was ‘foreseeable and avoidable’ and accused the government department of ‘systemic operational failings.’
The damning report outlined a series of recommendations for the Home Office, one of which was to review its hostile UK immigration policy – something that Patel promised to do.
The Home Office recently announced that all department staff would be trained on Britain’s ‘race and migration history’ in an effort to tackle the failings that contributed to the Windrush scandal.
However, despite promises made by Patel, the author of the scathing report, Wendy Williams, recently blasted the Home Office’s response to her recommendations.
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Aside from Wendy Williams’ report, the Home Office has also been investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which reviewed how the government department’s UK immigration policies comply with equality laws.
The EHRC recommended a series of improvements that would help the Home Office better understand how its controversial policies impact ethnic minorities.
According to Home Office data, more than 11,500 people have now been handed over 13,300 documents to confirm their UK immigration status.
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