Home Office "failing" the Windrush generation yet again according to report
By: Kate Moseley
The Home Office appears to be "failing" the Windrush generation yet again due to the compensation scheme.
Although the Home Office department (led by Priti Patel) promised to do better since the Windrush scandal back in 2018, it has not gone according to plan. The department implemented the 'Windrush Compensation Scheme', but this has fell short.
It has been reported that the scheme was far too complex to run and as a result it has not been operating as smoothly as they wished since the scheme was launched back in April 2019.
Some people have died before they received their claims. In the report it said, only 412 claims out of the 2,367 submitted have received their final payment. The Home Office has yet again frustrated the Windrush victims as the department is refusing to set deadlines, meaning many are still waiting for their compensation.
The Public Accounts Committee have condemned the strategy the Home Office has took, as they believe they are failing the Windrush generation. Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee has said:
"Let’s not lose sight of the scale of wrongs that the Home Office has promised to right here. Lifetimes in this country were discounted, people’s homes, families and livelihoods were interrupted and uprooted, some were forced from the country". -
Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee
In the report, the department recognised that the processing of claims was not always quick and that there has not been enough done to make this process quicker. It claimed that it now has ‘the right plans in place’ to speed up the operation.
However the committee also acknowledges that although:
"It is encouraging to hear the Department admit to some of its mistakes with the scheme, but it should not have taken two years to reach this point. There is an urgent need to make good on promises to right the wrongs for those who suffered”.
The National Audit Office reported that the department had intended to have a 125 caseworkers, but when the scheme launched, there was only 6.
The report also stated that although the amount of caseworkers recruited has massively increased, it is imperative that the department has the right amount of
caseworkers who are experienced enough to deal with the complexity of applicants circumstances.
You can read the full report here