Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
The Department’s planning estimates for the scheme have been completely wrong.
Conclusion
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 15,000 people might be eligible, an estimate it revised down to 11,500 in October
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
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. 3.4 Despite extensive ongoing outreach efforts, a national communications campaign, and the overhaul to the scheme in December 2020, the department has received significantly fewer claims than initially expected and on 21 July 2021 announced that it was reducing the planning assumption to 4000-6000 claims to reflect this. 3.5 To determine the new planning assumption, the department used a scenario-based approach, drawing upon qualitative and quantitative information from the Windrush Scheme and the Windrush Compensation Scheme, and using judgement where information is limited. This was done in consultation with the Windrush Working Group. 3.6 The new planning assumption more accurately reflects the number of eligible claims that are expected, although a range has been adopted to reflect the inherent uncertainty. 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 compensation the department will pay out or the number of claims the department will accept. 3.9 To ensure no one is prevented from making a claim, if eligible, simply because a deadline passed or because the department has received more claims than it had planned for, the department has removed the formal end date of the scheme.