Windrush Victims Online For £ 10k Payment As Priti Patel Announces Increased Minimum Compensation

Priti Patel admitted today that the victims of the Windrush scandal had been “very disappointed” when it revealed an increase in compensation payments of at least £ 10,000.

The Home Secretary announced that the minimum payments will be increased from £ 250 to £ 10,000 and the maximum to £ 100,000.

However, in exceptional circumstances, the maximum figure could be even higher.

Ms Patel said: ‘Today I am announcing significant changes to the Windrush Compensation Scheme so that those affected now receive significantly more money, much faster.

“I have always said that I will listen and act to help those who have suffered terrible injustices and today’s changes are an important step in rebuilding trust and moving forward together.”

Many of those involved in the Windrush scandal came to the UK as children with their parents’ passports aboard the Empire Windrush (pictured right). Priti Patel (left) said they had been ‘mistreated’ during the crackdown

The Interior Ministry will start issuing some preliminary payment offers starting this week, while payments under the new rules will start from January 1, 2021.

Compensation for Windrush victims, who came to Britain from the Caribbean to work from the 1950s onwards, has been criticized for being too slow.

Last month, Alexandra Ankrah, the top black Home Office official working on the plan, resigned saying it was not fit for purpose.

Under the reforms set out this afternoon, those who can show an “impact” on their life from the scandal will receive £ 10,000 immediately.

They can then start a full application that could get larger sums awarded to them.

It is believed that the value of the final payments could total between £ 90 million and £ 250 million.

The Government has also created a £ 500,000 fund for community groups to raise awareness of the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

The scheme has been changed after consultation with the Windrush Task Force chaired by Bishop Derek Webley, members of the Windrush generation, community leaders and stakeholders.

Bishop Webley said: ‘The Windrush Task Force is pleased to have collaborated with the Home Office and others to support these important and much-needed changes to the existing Compensation Scheme, and is delighted that they are being implemented so quickly.

“Many will benefit from the relief these new payments will bring and begin to move on with their lives with hope and determination.”

The expedited process will see affected individuals and their families who have a pending application considered for a preliminary or final payment within the first three months of 2021.

All cases where an offer or payment has already been made will be reviewed so that compensation is increased according to the new rules.

The existing compensation scheme was established in April 2019 and has so far paid out over £ 2 million and £ 1 million more has been offered.

Patel laid out some of the details of the plan overnight in a joint article with Bishop Webley in The Times.

Victims of the Windrush scandal will receive ‘turbocharged’ compensation payments of at least £ 10,000. Pictured: Sabtir Singh of Windrush activists delivering a petition to Downing Street signed by more than 130,000 people in July 2020, calling for action to address the failures that led to the scandal [File photo]

They wrote: “While nothing can undo the suffering suffered by some members of the generation and their descendants, we hope these changes will serve in some way to ease their lives and allow them to move forward with hope and determination.

“It is a tragedy that the people who gave so much to Great Britain were made to feel that this country was not their home. But we are determined that this never happens again.

“We are determined to make sure that those who were so disappointed receive all possible support and fair compensation. That is the least they deserve.

The Windrush scandal came about as a result of the government’s “ hostile environment ” policy, which was introduced by then-Home Secretary Theresa May in 2012.

It was intended to prevent illegal immigrants from settling in the UK, but ended up causing deep problems for fully legal immigrants of the Windrush generation.

Many of them arrived as children with their parents’ passports, who had the legal right to settle at the time, but then lacked the documentation to prove their right to stay in the UK decades later under the ‘hostile environment’ policy. ‘.

Many were deported, detained or unduly deprived of their homes and jobs.