The government’s response to the Windrush scandal

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 Conservative government set up two programmes to support people affected

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:

• 17,000 people have received documentation confirming their status or British citizenship (up to the end of March 2024)
• 8,800 claims have been made for compensation, of which 2,600 have received payments (up to the end of July 2024)

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.

A major review made 30 recommendations for changes at the Home Office

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 government has made commitments to improve the response

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:

• restore community engagement to encourage applications to the Windrush Compensation Scheme
• speed up compensation payments
• proceed with reconciliation events
• re-establish the Windrush unit to continue transformation within the Home Office
• appoint a new Windrush commissioner to oversee the delivery of the compensation scheme and the implementation of the Lessons Learned review, and to be a voice for families and communities in making sure change happens