Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 43
43
Deferred
We do not believe that the limited service provided by We Are Digital is sufficient...
Conclusion
We do not believe that the limited service provided by We Are Digital is sufficient to obviate the need for specialist legal advice. We therefore urge the Home Office to introduce new arrangements to ensure that everyone who wishes to access legal assistance with their claim is able to do so. The Home Office should consider the following options as part of its review: • Extending the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to include work done under the Windrush Compensation Scheme and waiving means testing for this work; • Establishing an approved panel of legal firms and professionals, with a funding scheme to provide payment for their services to claimants; 94 The Windrush Compensation Scheme • Agreeing a tariff payment for legal costs to be reimbursed to claimants. The payment should reflect the level of support the claimant required, for example whether they requested a review; • Establishing and maintaining a dedicated fund for organisations to provide free legal assistance to claimants. (Paragraph 140) Evidential requirements
Government response summary AI-generated
The government response details the Urgent and Exceptional Payments policy, its publication, and the update to decision letters to clarify that such payments may be deducted from future compensation awards, but does not address the need for new arrangements for legal assistance.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
The Compensation Scheme has been designed to be accessible to anyone without the need for legal assistance in order to fill in the claim form and receive compensation. Caseworkers phone claimants to gather extra information when needed and send letters to claimants at each stage of the process, these letters have been crystal marked to ensure they are clear. The vast majority of claims that have been concluded have seen claimants receive compensation without any involvement of legal professionals. We are continuously evaluating how we can better help claimants through the process of their claim and are working with We Are Digital to ensure their service is clearly signposted and accessible.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗