Over £36 million given in Windrush compensation so far

Members of the ‘Windrush generation’ have been paid over £30.6 million in compensation, the home secretary has announced today.

The Windrush Compensation Scheme paid over £1.5 million in the month of August – bringing the total amount paid and offered to more than £36 million.

The 2018 Windrush scandal involved the wrongful detainment and threat to deport deportation. In at least 83 cases individuals were wrongly deported.

Home secretary Priti Patel said: “I have been clear that I will act to put right the wrongs suffered by the Windrush generation under successive governments.

“I overhauled the compensation scheme in December to make it easier for people to get higher payments more quickly, and as a result of my changes, more than £36 million has been paid or offered.”

The changes made in December include increasing the minimum payment to £10,000 – 40 times greater than the previous minimum award available.

Within 6 weeks of the changes being announced, the Home Office had offered more in compensation than in the first 19 months of the scheme, rising £6.17 million to more than £12 million at the end of January 2021.

Total payments have also risen rapidly since the changes were announced. Since the end of December, the Home Office has paid more than 9 times the total amount previously distributed throughout the lifetime of the scheme, which began in April 2019.

In August the home secretary said that anyone seeking compensation because they were unable to demonstrate their lawful status can do so indefinitely, by removing the formal end date. She also announced changes to the primary claim form to make it easier to complete and process.