Priti Patel has admitted the Windrush compensation scheme has been too slow to reimburse people affected by the scandal – but said she would not apologise for waits of more than a year because cases are being handled in a “sensitive way”.
Last month, the Home Office revealed its Windrush Compensation Scheme, which was announced in April 2019 and was estimated to pay out between £200m and £500m, had only provided compensation to 60 victims of the government’s actions.
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, the home secretary said internal figures showed that over £1m has been offered to applicants of the scheme, and that once the offers were accepted by the applicants, payments would be made.
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She said her department was dealing with “complicated cases” and that delays were occurring because each case was being handled in a “sensitive way”.
In response to accusations made by Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary that progress on compensating people affected had been “too slow”, Ms Patel said: “I agree, the way in which payments have been made have been far too slow. I’m not apologising for that at all.
“It is right that we treat each individual with the respect and dignity they deserve. These are complicated cases.”
The home secretary also announced that her department would accept the recommendations of the review into the Windrush scandal – published in March – in full.
“The review itself is damning of the conduct of the Home Office and unequivocal about the ignorance and institutional thoughtlessness towards the race and the history of the Windrush generation by the department,” she said.
“There are serious and significant lessons for the Home Office to learn.”
During the sitting, Labour MP and chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee Yvette Cooper raised the cases of two men who were told in January that their cases were nearly finalised, but had made no progress since.
One of these individuals was Anthony Williams, who served in the armed forces for 13 years, and the other Andrew Bynoe, who was made homeless due to issues with his immigration status.
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Ms Cooper added: “Would she accept that keeping people in hardship and in limbo waiting like this compounds the justice that they have already felt?”
The home secretary responded by saying that where individuals were waiting for final settlements, they could access assistance through the vulnerable persons team, a separate scheme designed to provide help and advice where vulnerability issues are identified.
It comes after the Home Office was warned there is a “grave risk” of a Windrush-style scandal happening again if ministers failed to implement the recommendations set out in the lessons learnt review into what led to the fiasco.
In an interview with Radio 4’s Westminster Hour on Sunday, Wendy Williams, who wrote the review into the scandal, added that the compensation scheme for victims “is not demonstrating the benefits that it should”.
