Recommendations & Conclusions
17 items
2
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The scheme design was too complex and made it difficult for victims to engage with. Many of the difficulties suffered by the Windrush generation were due to insufficient documentation, and yet the Department designed a scheme which demands evidence it acknowledges many claimants do not have. It claims its approach …
Government response. 2.1 The department agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2022 2.2 Prior to the publication of the Committee's report and in response to feedback from stakeholders and affected individuals, the department had launched a package of support …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department’s planning estimates for the scheme have been completely wrong. When it set up the compensation scheme in April 2019 the Department made a series of key assumptions about how the scheme would work, which have not matched what has happened in practice. For example, it thought that around …
Government response. 3.1 The department agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 The department had revised the scheme’s planning assumption prior to the publication of the Committee’s report. 3.3. Estimating the volume of eligible claims likely to be received remains challenging. …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department launched the scheme without the caseworkers it required to deliver the complex scheme it designed and has never had the operational capacity it needs, leaving people waiting for decisions. When it launched the scheme, the Department had only six caseworkers to deal with processing claims, compared to the …
Government response. 4.1 The department agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Recommendation implemented 4.2 As of 19 October 2021, the department has eighty caseworkers, and expect at least a further thirty-four to join over the next three months from November 2021 to January …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Home Office (the Department) about the Windrush Compensation Scheme.1
Government response. Based on a report by the Public Accounts Committee, the Committee took evidence on Monday, 7 June 2021 from the Home Office’s Windrush Compensation Scheme. The Committee published its report on Tuesday, 27 July 2021. This is the government’s response …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The National Audit Office report noted that for claims received after March 2020 (the only data for which the Department had detailed process data) only 10% (102 claims) had reached payment approval stage. These 102 claims took on average 177 days to reach payment approval, with half of the cases …
Government response. 1. The BBC appears complacent about the threat it faces from declining audiences. Each year people spend less time watching BBC TV and 200,000 more households choose to opt out of paying for the licence fee. Yet when pressed, the …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department recognised that its processing of claims was not always quick and that it had not yet done enough to reduce the time it takes to process them. It claimed that it now has ‘the right plans in place’ to speed them up.14 It repeatedly underlined its desire to …
Government response. 1.1 The department agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2022 1.2 The Home Office (the department) remains focused on speeding up the processing of claims. On 21 July 2021, the department published a redesigned primary claim form …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department expressed confidence that the scheme would be quicker and less demanding thanks to the changes it implemented in December 2020.18 We asked what the Department believed was an acceptable period to process claims and heard that it avoided setting such targets as it believes this would create unhelpful …
Government response. 1.1 The department agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2022 1.2 The Home Office (the department) remains focused on speeding up the processing of claims. On 21 July 2021, the department published a redesigned primary claim form …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department claimed that the scheme was unprecedented, but that it had spoken to ombudsmen across government in its efforts to design an effective scheme.23 Following the session, the Department wrote to us and described how it drew on the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Principles for Remedy guidance, the …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department asserted that no-one eligible to receive compensation should fail to receive it because they could not provide evidence to support their claim.28 The Department claimed it designed the scheme to minimise the amount of evidence required, although the National Audit Office reported that initially some areas, for example …
Government response. The department agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2022 2.2 Prior to the publication of the Committee's report and in response to feedback from stakeholders and affected individuals, the department had launched a package of support to …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
We noted that it has been especially difficult for some types of claimants to see progress with their claims.33 The National Audit Office reported that more than one-third of claims on behalf of the estate of someone who has died had not moved past the initial registration stage of the …
Government response. 2.2 Prior to the publication of the Committee's report and in response to feedback from stakeholders and affected individuals, the department had launched a package of support to help those making, or who have already made, claims on behalf of …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department underlined its determination to right the wrongs it has inflicted on the Windrush generation. It stated that this is why getting the compensation scheme right is absolutely essential.37 The Department repeatedly committed to maximising applications to the scheme and ensuring that people get the maximum amount of compensation …
Government response. 3.7 The revision does not change the department’s commitment to ensuring all affected members of the Windrush generation make a claim and receive the maximum compensation to which they are entitled. 3.8 There is no cap on the amount of …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
We asked whether the Department had been too optimistic in setting out its initial assumptions.42 The National Audit Office reported that the Department originally estimated it would pay between £120 and £310 million to an estimated 15,000 claimants.43 In October 2019, the Department reduced this estimate to between £60 million …
Government response. 3.1 The department agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 The department had revised the scheme’s planning assumption prior to the publication of the Committee’s report. 3.3. Estimating the volume of eligible claims likely to be received remains challenging. …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department told us it wanted to ensure all those potentially eligible to apply to the scheme could do so.47 This committee recommended in March 2019 that the Department extend its historical reviews “beyond Caribbean Commonwealth nationals to include other Commonwealth nationals who may have been wrongfully detained, removed or …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department acknowledged it took longer to process claims than it had expected.54 The National Audit Office calculated that claims took an average of 154 staff hours to process to payment, five times more than the Department originally estimated.55 The Department could not explain how it made its original caseworking …
Government response. 1.2 The Home Office (the department) remains focused on speeding up the processing of claims. On 21 July 2021, the department published a redesigned primary claim form which is easier to complete, and refreshed caseworker guidance which sets out clearly …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The National Audit Office reported that the Department originally planned to have 125 caseworkers, but at the launch of the scheme it only had six.58 The Department told us it had entirely rebuilt its capacity plan since ‘October or November’ 2020.59 However, the National Audit Office reported that, at March …
Government response. 4.1 The department agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Recommendation implemented 4.2 As of 19 October 2021, the department has eighty caseworkers, and expect at least a further thirty-four to join over the next three months from November 2021 to January …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department told us it has a lengthy and comprehensive training course for caseworkers followed by mentoring to ensure that caseworkers formulate awards accurately.63 The National Audit Office noted that, as of March 2021, the Department was aware of six overpayments, totalling £38,292 in value.64 Based on a review of …
Government response. 2.3 The department is committed to ensuring that caseworkers are equipped to act effectively and compassionately. All staff complete training courses such as ‘The Face Behind the Case’. The department is helping staff with its commitment to bring the Home …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Fourteenth Report - Windrush Compensati…
The Department noted that it was exploring options to obtain additional caseworking support for the scheme from elsewhere within the Department.69 In the longer term, it is examining how it can restructure the way it organises its caseworkers across all areas of the Department as part of its transformation programme.70 …
HM Treasury