Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 65
65
Accepted
Paragraph: 215
High discretionary claims indicate unaddressed loss types and lack of clarity.
Conclusion
The high number of claims made for a discretionary award suggests that there are types of loss not yet accounted for within the scheme. It may also indicate a continuing lack of clarity about the headings under which certain types of claim should be made. It is important therefore that the Home Office closely monitors this category of claim.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states it is already committed to keeping all categories under review and uses existing quality assurance and review processes to monitor trends and policy elements requiring scrutiny.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
215
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
The Scheme is designed to cover as many aspects as possible of a person’s life that are likely to have been affected by an inability to demonstrate status. We introduced a discretionary category to cover such instances where there is evidence that a financial loss incurred which is not captured within the other existing categories of claim. This will be reviewed, and we will provide updates. Policy and Operational teams are working together, looking closely at the Discretionary category. Regarding consistency, any proposal to award in this category is discussed and signed off by a technical specialist. Previous awards in this category have been in respect of travel costs (both internationally and within the UK), medical invoices (submitted as part of an application to the HO), and the reimbursement monies paid in respect of legal advice. We have committed to keeping all categories within the Scheme under review. Feedback from our quality assurance processes alongside that received from our Tier 1 and Tier 2 reviews ensure we have real time insight enabling us to identify trends in decision making and any elements of the Schemes’ policy which require additional scrutiny and review.
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