LONDON:
Victims of the 2017 Windrush scandal received some welcome news last week after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans for a fundamental reset in the government’s response to those affected.
In a special roundtable meeting at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton, south London, with stakeholders and legal representatives for persons directly affected by the scandal, the home secretary expressed the government’s renewed commitment to work to achieve justice for the victims.
Among the measures she outlined were:
• £1.5 million in government grant funding, which will be used to increase advocacy support for persons applying to the Windrush Compensation Scheme;
• Plans to appoint a new Windrush commissioner to hold the government to account on the delivery of the recommendations in the Wendy Williams Lessons Learned Review;
• The re-establishment of the Windrush Unit within the Home Office, to oversee its response to the scandal after it was disbanded by the previous Conservative government.
In a written statement, Cooper said this was the first steps the new Labour government is taking to ensure justice is finally delivered for persons affected by the Windrush scandal.
Cooper committed to working more closely with communities affected, and to appointing a new Windrush commissioner who will act as’ a trusted voice for victims and the Windrush communities, and also champion improvements for lasting change’.
The home secretary said: “The Windrush scandal caused terrible pain and heartache for so many families in the Windrush generation and in wider Commonwealth communities. It is rightly recognised as a period of national shame.
“The hurt and anguish felt by so many have been compounded further for those who haven’t received the compensation and justice they are owed. The Windrush generation has been let down and we are committed to a fundamental reset of the response to this scandal.
“We are changing the government’s approach – working more closely with victims, stakeholders, and communities, as well as those affected by all the department’s work–to ensure a scandal of this kind can never happen again, and dignity can be restored to those so tragically affected.”
Attendees at the roundtable session included representatives from the Windrush National Organisation, Windrush Defenders Legal, Leigh Day Solicitors, Race Council Cymru, Age UK, Action for Race Equality, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, Justice for Windrush Generation, Caribbean and African Health Network, and the National Windrush Museum.
The discussions had followed a separate meeting between Cooper and Wendy Williams, to discuss her vision for a changed Home Office to achieve justice for victims and embed lasting cultural change across the department.
The Windrush scandal began to surface in 2017 after it emerged that hundreds of British citizens, many who came to the UK from the Caribbean between 1948 and 1973, had been wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights. Many lost homes and jobs, and were denied access to healthcare and benefits.
Campaigners challenged these actions, and it was later revealed that the Home Office illegally sought to remove many members of the Windrush generation under its ‘hostile environment’ policy by telling them that they had no right to be in the UK.
The Windrush Compensation Scheme was launched in 2019 by the Home Office as part of a set of measures to ‘right the wrongs’ experienced by the Windrush generation and their families. However, claims were bogged down by bureaucracy and a complicated application process, leaving only a small fraction of the thousands affected compensated.
Williams, an inspector at Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Service was tasked with reviewing the Home Office’s handling of the scandal, and make improvement recommendations.
When the Lessons Learned Review was published in 2020, Williams concluded that the scandal was “foreseeable and avoidable”, and victims were let down by “systemic operational failings” at the Home Office.
Her report contained 30 recommendations for improvements to right the wrongs from the Windrush scandal. However, after a review three years later, only eight of her recommendations were ever followed through.
Commenting on the home secretary’s announcement last week, Jacqueline McKenzie, head of Immigration and Asylum Law at Leigh Day Solicitors, a leading advocate for the Windrush victims, said she welcomed the new support but wants the Lessons Learned Review acted on.
She said: “I am hopeful that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will address my serious concerns about the Windrush Schemes and the implementation of the recommendations in the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, because she was excellent at holding the former government to account during her stint as chair of the Home Affairs Committee when in opposition.
“I welcome the idea of a Windrush commissioner and hope that the appointee will have skills and experience to understand both citizenship law and compensation claims, and the impact of racism on the cohort affected.
“Wendy Williams had proposed a migrants commissioner, which is badly needed, so it might be the case that a Windrush commissioner looks at the scandal and wider societal issues, but there still needs to be a discussion on the need for a migrants commissioner whose role is to safeguard the rights of migrants more broadly.
“It’s great to hear that the Windrush Unit will be reinstated and reconciliation events are proposed after Suella Braverman, a former home secretary, had cut these, but work on reconciliation must address some of the serious disadvantages experienced by members of the Windrush generation and their descendants, across many measures, and not just be cosy community chats.”