The gender pay gap
This briefing paper provides statistics on the size of the gender pay gap in the UK and how it varies by factors such as age, occupation and location.
Redress schemes offering immigration/citizenship documents and financial compensation to victims of the Windrush scandal have been running for several years.
The government's response to the Windrush scandal (627 KB , PDF)
The Windrush generation is a group of people who migrated to the UK from Caribbean Commonwealth countries between 1948 and 1973. Such people are entitled to live in the UK permanently but many of them did not have documentation to prove this.
Because they were unable to prove their right to live in the UK, some members of the Windrush generation and other long-standing UK residents were wrongly treated as illegal immigrants. They were consequently denied access to employment, healthcare and other services, and in some cases detained or removed from the country.
The obstacles these people encountered in trying to prove their status, and the difficulties and distress they experienced as a result, have come to be known as the ‘Windrush scandal’.
The government has put in place schemes to provide proof of immigration status, and to provide compensation for losses experienced because an affected person was unable to prove their immigration status. Under these schemes:
Some have criticised the compensation scheme, saying that it has been too slow and bureaucratic, and that payments do not adequately reflect losses. The government has made several changes to the design and operation of the scheme since it was launched, including to make compensation payments more generous and increase the number of staff working on it.
£94 million has been paid in compensation, as of the end of July 2024. Total compensation scheme payments could exceed £165 million if Home Office estimates of future claims are correct.
Alongside the schemes to support victims of the Windrush scandal, in 2018 then Home Secretary Sajid Javid commissioned a major review to look at the events leading up to the Windrush scandal.
The Lessons Learned Review by Wendy Williams concluded that what happened to those affected by the Windrush scandal was “foreseeable and avoidable”. Officials and ministers had not, she found, heeded warning signs from both inside and outside the Home Office. The review made 30 recommendations and called on the government to publish a comprehensive improvement plan within six months of the review’s publication.
The Johnson government accepted all 30 of the review’s recommendations and published a comprehensive improvement plan in September 2020. The Sunak government subsequently decided not to proceed with three of the review’s recommendations.
The Labour Party manifesto for the 2024 general election stated: “we will ensure the victims of the appalling Windrush scandal have their voices heard and the compensation scheme is run effectively, with a new Windrush Commissioner”. Ahead of the election, then Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in an opinion piece that Labour would:
The government's response to the Windrush scandal (627 KB , PDF)
This briefing paper provides statistics on the size of the gender pay gap in the UK and how it varies by factors such as age, occupation and location.
UK residence permits are going digital. Some foreign residents need to actively sign up for their eVisa or risk being unable to re-enter the country.
Updated following publication of October 2024 National Audit Office (NAO) report on SEND system