Guidance

Memorandum of Understanding

Published 2 March 2026

Introduction

1. This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) sets out the framework for cooperation, roles, responsibilities, and governance arrangements between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office.

2. This MoU has been agreed between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office. It is not legally binding and does not create any legal obligations. The MoU must be reviewed jointly at least every three years, or sooner if required, and may be - where appropriate - revised by mutual agreement between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office. Minor routine updates can be made annually by correspondence.

3. All versions of this MoU will be published on Gov.uk and the website of the Windrush Commissioner (Office of the Windrush Commissioner).

Date of agreement: 22 January 2026

Signatories:

Anita Bailey, Head of Windrush Unit, Home Office

Gabrielle Monk, Customer Operations Support Services Director, Home Office

Rev Clive Foster, Windrush Commissioner

Section 1: Windrush Commissioner role and responsibilities

4. The role of the Windrush Commissioner was established by the Home Office in response to the Home Office Windrush Scandal. The Windrush Commissioner is a public appointee and operates independently of the Home Office. The Windrush Commissioner’s remit covers the entire UK.

Purpose

5. The Windrush Commissioner is a public appointee and operates independently of the Home Office, serving as an independent advocate and trusted voice for victims, families and impacted communities affected by the Home Office Windrush Scandal, driving improvements and promoting lasting and sustainable change.

6. The Windrush Commissioner will assure Home Office delivery of the Windrush Compensation Scheme and Windrush (Status) Scheme and advise on the government’s response to the Windrush Lessons Learned Review (WLLR) recommendations to ensure change that matters to the Windrush communities and its wider impact across the whole department and across government.

7. The Windrush Commissioner will make recommendations to support the Home Secretary’s leadership of long-term cultural change to embed the principles and the lessons from the WLLR into every aspect of work within the Home Office, to ensure that what happened to the Windrush generation never happens again.

Key responsibilities

8. The Windrush Commissioner’s role will include the following responsibilities:

a) To engage with and act as a trusted voice for victims and Windrush communities and relevant organisations affected by the Home Office Windrush Scandal to build a trusted relationship, advocating improvements and lasting change.

b) To act as an authoritative voice, providing independent scrutiny, challenge and advice to the Home Secretary and ministers where the learning of Windrush is relevant right across the Home Office to ensure that these kinds of injustices cannot be repeated.

c) To advise on the government’s response to and implementation of the WLLR recommendations to ensure that lessons of the past are learned.

d) To assure delivery of the Windrush Compensation Scheme and Windrush (Status) Scheme to provide advice to ministers on the effectiveness of both schemes in achieving their objectives and provide assurance that the needs of communities affected by the Home Office Windrush Scandal are met.

9. The Windrush Commissioner may, while fulfilling their responsibilities:

a) Submit reports to the Home Secretary, Welsh and Scottish ministers, and the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland.

b) Provide advice and make recommendations to ministers and public bodies on matters related to the Windrush Commissioner’s remit.

c) Request cooperation from public authorities where necessary to fulfil their functions including the Adjudicator’s Office and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

d) Support research into matters related to the Home Office Windrush Scandal; and

e) Collaborate with public and non-public bodies and engage internationally in an independent capacity.

Section 2: Responsibilities of the Home Office

10. The Home Office provides sponsorship to the Windrush Commissioner and the Office of the Windrush Commissioner in line with the Cabinet Office Arm’s Length Body Sponsorship Code of Good Practice.

11. The senior sponsor for the Windrush Commissioner will be the Home Office  Customer Operations Support Services Director, who delegates their responsibilities to the Home Office Head of the Windrush Unit. The senior sponsor will:

a) Act as the official level contact between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office at senior management level and conduct an annual appraisal to review outcomes achieved by the Windrush Commissioner.

b) Ensure the Windrush Commissioner is consulted on associated communications on relevant announcements, on the format and content of routine statistical releases, and is invited to provide input and advice to relevant policy developments relating to the Windrush Schemes; and

c) Act as the point of contact to identify who is best placed to provide a public government response to reports (where the senior sponsor considers it appropriate to respond) published by the Windrush Commissioner, as soon as reasonably practicable.

12. The Windrush Unit will hold responsibility for governance of the relationship with the Windrush Commissioner, as well as corporate and non-policy issues.

13. To enable this, the Windrush Unit assists the Windrush Commissioner by:

a) Supporting and assisting with the procurement, commercial and HR needs of the Windrush Commissioner.

b) Setting and maintaining oversight of the Windrush Commissioner’s budget with the support of the Finance Business Partner, and ensuring that the Office of the Windrush Commissioner pursues any necessary corrective steps to avoid overspending against their delegated budget; and

c) Ensuring all support services that are available to Home Office civil servants are made available to members of the Office of the Windrush Commissioner. This includes, but is not limited to, HR, IT, business, employee support services, and financial support services.

Section 3: Governance, oversight, and reporting

Office of the Windrush Commissioner

14. The Windrush Commissioner is supported by a secretariat, identified as the Office of the Windrush Commissioner, with additional support provided by corporate services from the Home Office, while respecting the Windrush Commissioner’s independence.

15. While members of the Office of the Windrush Commissioner are civil servants governed by the civil service rules and regulations, members are under the day-to-day direction and control of the Windrush Commissioner in support of their work.

16. The Office of the Windrush Commissioner is responsible for performance appraisals and performance management of the members of the Windrush Commissioner team including making sure appraisals are recorded on the Home Office appraisal system (METIS).

17. Members of the Office of the Windrush Commissioner must comply with relevant Home Office policies, processes and procedures including those for finance, procurement, and HR. However, to ensure the independence of the Windrush Commissioner, staff are operationally independent, and their work is led by the Windrush Commissioner.

Section 4: Windrush Commissioner boards or panels

18. The Windrush Commissioner may establish a non-statutory advisory panel/s (or any other forum in support of their objectives). Such a panel/s may consist of members drawn from a wide background of experts in issues surrounding the Home Office Windrush scandal at the Windrush Commissioner’s sole discretion. Members may be drawn from the UK jurisdictions and may include (but are not limited to) representatives from: academia; business; devolved governments; law enforcement; and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

19. The Windrush Commissioner will determine the most appropriate governance for any such panel, with consideration given to ensuring adequate independence from government. The Office of the Windrush Commissioner will support any such panel/s to facilitate meetings, including taking minutes of meetings.

20. Such panel/s will have no statutory powers and as such their role would only be advisory. The Windrush Commissioner may choose to follow a different course of action to that proposed by the panel, in carrying out their role.

Section 5: Corporate reporting

Corporate governance

21. The Windrush Commissioner supported by senior leaders in their team will comply with relevant Home Office and Cabinet Office guidance on controls listed in Annex A.

Risks and issues

22. The Windrush Commissioner will alert the Home Office to risks to the delivery of its role at the earliest opportunity and escalate any such risks to the Home Office as necessary via both the senior sponsor and Home Office Public Appointments Team (who will own risks relating to the appointment or re-appointment of the Windrush Commissioner). Risks relating to wider policy issues will be held and owned by the respective Home Office policy unit. There may be shared risks or issues, identified by either the Home Office or the Windrush Commissioner, where engagement of all parties to support risk mitigation may be needed.

Responsibilities of public appointees

23. The Windrush Commissioner is a public appointee. Home Office (Public Appointment Team) in consultation with the devolved governments will ensure that appointment processes comply with the government’s Code of Practice on Public Appointments.

Section 6: Data sharing

24. In taking forward the work of the Windrush Commissioner, the Windrush Commissioner can seek data from the Home Office as set out in the Home Office/Windrush Commissioner data sharing protocol (Annex B). The Windrush Commissioner should treat any data obtained from the Home Office with the sensitivity and handling stipulations made by the Home Office and in accordance with applicable legislative requirements. Where the Windrush Commissioner wishes to make publicly available any data or information obtained from the Department (that is not publicly available), they must consult and secure agreement from the Home Office before doing so.  This does not apply to publishing correspondence from ministers, which the Commissioner is able to do without prior agreement.

Section 7: Financial management

25. As an independent office holder, the Windrush Commissioner is given a budget allocation and has financial accountability for the funding provided to support the role. The budget is not formally delegated to the Windrush Commissioner, as the Windrush Commissioner is not a separate legal entity. However, day-to-day management of the Windrush Commissioner budget, in conformity with relevant Home Office rules and processes for managing public money, rests with the Chief of Staff, under the direction of the Windrush Commissioner.

26. In agreeing the annual budget for the Windrush Commissioner, the Head of the Windrush Unit will ask the Windrush Commissioner to set out their expected spend for the financial year ahead against their priorities.

27. The Home Office will ensure that before the start of each financial year the Windrush Commissioner is notified of their budget allocation for the year in a letter from the budget holder. Where this is not possible - for example if budget allocations have not been confirmed - the Home Office will write to the Windrush Commissioner by 1st April of each year, to advise them of their likely allocation, subject to later confirmation, to enable them to manage their budget effectively in the interim, before they receive their formal allocation.

28. The Windrush Commissioner should actively aim to accommodate all spend within their budget. This will be monitored at regular finance meetings between the Home Office and the Office of the Windrush Commissioner through review of actual, forecast and variance in spending against budget.

29. The Office of the Windrush Commissioner will write to the senior sponsor if they have concerns that they may overspend against their budget, seeking their permission to overspend. The Home Office will aim to give its decision within four weeks of the request being made. The Windrush Commissioner may not overspend whilst awaiting the Home Office decision, unless Home Office approval is given in writing.

Section 8: Recruitment

30. Prior to recruiting staff, the Windrush Commissioner should inform the senior sponsor (in practice the Head of the Windrush Unit) of their planned recruitment, and affordability within their budget and for them to agree depending on the prevailing Home Office recruitment controls.

31. If the Windrush Commissioner wishes to advertise outside of the Civil Service, it must also seek permission from the budget holder to ensure alignment with government recruitment principles, who will consider the specific circumstances and requirements in each case before deciding whether external recruitment is justified and appropriate.

Section 9: Access to legal advice

32. If a legal matter arises that the Windrush Commissioner believes is connected to the business of the Home Office, or relates to staffing issues, advice should be sought from the Windrush Unit. The Windrush Unit would, in turn, determine whether to seek advice for itself from the department’s legal advisers and would respond to the Windrush Commissioner setting out the Home Office’s position on the matter.

33. If a legal matter arises which is not connected to the business of the Home Office or in instances where the matter is connected to the business of the Home Office and the Windrush Commissioner strongly disagrees with the legal advice provided to the Home Office, the Windrush Commissioner may obtain its own legal advice from external counsel. Any associated costs will be managed through regular forecasting conversations and, if necessary, through the usual process for requests to overspend (see section 7).

Section 10: Legal proceedings

34. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this section supersedes the position in the Windrush Commissioner’s terms of appointment regarding civil litigation related to the execution of the Windrush Commissioner’s responsibilities.

Section 11: Handling correspondence and freedom of information (FOI) requests

35. The Windrush Commissioner’s office is responsible for answering correspondence and complying with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in responding to freedom of information requests directed to its office.

36. On occasion, the department may request information from the Office of the Windrush Commissioner in order to respond to correspondence and FOI requests directed to the department.

Section 12: Complaints handling

37. Any complaints (expression of dissatisfaction) by the public made about the service provided by the Windrush Commissioner and /or its staff will be handled by the Office of the Windrush Commissioner and set out in the Windrush Commissioner’s complaints handling procedure. The Office of the Windrush Commissioner will treat all complaints in confidence and will endeavour to handle complaints quickly, effectively and in a fair and honest way. Should the complainant be unhappy with how their complaint has been dealt with, routes of escalation are as follows:

A) they can request that the handling of their complaint be referred to the Windrush Commissioner’s Chief of Staff or the Windrush Commissioner.

B)  If the complainant remains unhappy with the response, or the complaint is about the conduct of the Windrush Commissioner’s Chief of Staff or the Windrush Commissioner or both, it can be escalated to the Home Office for appropriate consideration.

Annex A: List of guidance and policies applicable to the Windrush Commissioner  

1. Governance Code on Public Appointments - Governance Code on Public Appointments

2. Managing Public Money (MPM) - Managing public money

Annex B: Data sharing Memorandum of Understanding

Data sharing protocol between Home Office and the Windrush Commissioner

Purpose

1. The purpose of this protocol is to set out the principles for and scope of secure information sharing between the (Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office together, ‘the parties’). This covers situations where, in the course of the working relationship between the parties, data-sharing is required (both routinely and on an ad hoc basis). It does not cover day-to-day, routine correspondence between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office.

Background and approach

2. This document is intended to set out principles governing data sharing between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office to ensure that information can be disclosed efficiently to enable both parties to carry out their functions as effectively and as transparently as possible.

3. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Home Office and the Windrush Commissioner envisages that the Home Office and the Windrush Commissioner would have a data sharing protocol in place. This document therefore intends to underpin that MOU by setting out the parameters within which information will be shared between the parties. The document first deals with sharing of information more generally, then goes on to deal with sharing of personal data, which must be done in compliance with the data protection legislation.

4. The Windrush Schemes are committed to openness and transparency. Both Schemes already publish detailed granular data regularly. This data sets out volumes of intake and decisions, number of decisions awaiting consideration, a break-down of outcomes, and details of payments made. Data will be shared with the Windrush Commissioner in advance where possible to enable timely review and informed commentary.

Disclosure of information by the Home Office

5. When the Windrush Commissioner considers it is necessary to have sight of information held by the Home Office, to effectively exercise their functions as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding, the Windrush Commissioner should make a request from the Home Office for the information in question.

6. Requests may be made on a one-off basis, or for the regular provision of specified information. When making a request on a one-off basis, or on the first occasion when regular provision is requested, the Windrush Commissioner will set out as clearly as possible: 

a) Why they consider that the information is necessary for the exercise of their functions as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding

b) What information is being requested

c) The purpose for which it will be used

d) Whether they intend to publish the information

e) Who will have access to the information

f) How the information will be stored and for how long, and

g) How the information will be disposed of.

7. When considering sharing the information sought, the Home Office must satisfy itself:

a) That the information and its proposed use is necessary for the exercise of the functions of the Windrush Commissioner as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding

b) Whether it is content to agree to any proposed publication of the information in question (and if necessary, the Home Office and Windrush Commissioner will work together to agree what can be published)

c) That the proposals for access to the information and for its storage and disposal are appropriate only on secure government-managed IT systems, including those operated independently by the Windrush Commissioner’s Office, and in accordance with applicable data protection guidance

d) That the information can lawfully be shared; and

e) That the information is labelled with appropriate security classifications in line with the government security classifications guidance.

Disclosure of information by the Windrush Commissioner

8. In carrying out its functions, the Home Office may request information that the Windrush Commissioner may hold to help inform its work. Requests may be made on a one-off basis, or for the regular provision of specified information. When making a request on a one-off basis, or on the first occasion when regular provision is requested, the Home Office will set out as clearly as possible:

a) Why the Home Office considers the information necessary to support delivery of the Windrush Unit’s work

b) What information is being requested

c) The purpose for which it will be used

d) Whether the Home Office intends to publish the information

e) Who will have access to the information

f) How the information will be stored and for how long, and

g) How the information will be disposed of.

9. When considering sharing information with the Home Office, the Windrush Commissioner must satisfy themselves that:

a) The information and its proposed use are necessary to support delivery of the Home Office’s work in relation to the Windrush Schemes, Lessons Learned Review, or related areas

b) Whether any proposed publication of the information would be acceptable (if necessary, the Windrush Commissioner and Home Office representatives will work together to agree what can be published)

c) The proposals for access to the information and for its storage and disposal are appropriate

d) sharing the information is lawful; and

e) sharing the data does not undermine the independence of the Windrush Commissioner’s role.

Classification of information official and official-sensitive

10. It is not envisaged that any information classified higher than ‘official-sensitive’ will need to be shared. Separate arrangements will be made for considering any request for sharing information of a higher classification, should such a request arise. Home Office officials may have to seek approval from senior officials or ministers for ‘official sensitive’ information to be shared with the Windrush Commissioner. That may lead to requests for additional justification from the Windrush Commissioner before a decision is made about sharing the information.

11. Requests to the Home Office for information that falls in scope of this data sharing agreement will normally be made in the first instance to the Head of the Windrush Unit. If the information is held by teams in the Home Office other than the Windrush Unit, arrangements may be made for direct requests to those units on a case-by-case basis. Each request will be dealt with in line with the principles of this protocol.

Timing

12. Both the Home Office and the Windrush Commissioner should endeavour to provide any information requested by the other as soon as possible. Either party should acknowledge the request within three working days, informing the other party that the request is being considered. Where the relevant party has satisfied themselves that the information requested can be shared:

• official information – The Home Office and the Windrush Commissioner should aim to provide the information within 10 working days from the date of the request.

• official - sensitive information – The Home Office and the Windrush Commissioner should aim to provide the information within 15 working days from the date of the request.

Escalation process

Escalation process for the Windrush Commissioner

13. Where the Windrush Commissioner has requested information from the Home Office in accordance with the provisions set out above, or if there are any difficulties with the implementation of or adherence to this MoU, and requested information has not been forthcoming from negotiations at working level, the Windrush Commissioner will first escalate to the Head of the Windrush Unit. If they are unable to resolve the matter satisfactorily, either party can escalate this to the senior sponsor (Customer Operations Support Services Director) and subsequently, if necessary, to the Second Permanent Secretary.

If still unresolved, the matter may be escalated to ministers. This should be a last resort in exceptional circumstances.

Escalation process for the Home Office

14. There is no escalation process for the Home Office. The Windrush Commissioner’s decision on whether to share information with the Home Office is final. The Windrush Commissioner is independent of the Home Office and has ultimate say over what information will be shared.

Personal information

15. It is not considered that there will be a need to share personal information routinely – it is envisaged that any personal data will be anonymised. However, the Windrush Commissioner might request personal information on an ad hoc basis, for example to support specific research projects.

16. If it is considered appropriate to share personal data routinely, the parties will prepare the necessary data sharing arrangements and impact assessments to ensure compliance with the data protection legislation.

17. In the event of an ad hoc request for information which includes the sharing of personal data, the parties will satisfy themselves that there is a legal basis for sharing and that the proposed disclosure complies with data protection legislation. Home Office officials will seek approval from senior officials and ministers for routine or ad hoc sharing of personal data.

Other government departments (OGDs)

18. For information held by OGDs, the Windrush Commissioner will make their own requests to these government departments/bodies as they consider appropriate. The Windrush Unit will help the Windrush Commissioner to identify appropriate contacts in OGDs/other bodies to whom to address information requests.

Annex C: Windrush Commissioner role in relation to the Windrush Compensation and Status schemes

The Windrush Commissioner plays a vital role in assuring the delivery of both the Windrush (Status) Scheme and the Windrush Compensation Scheme. Acting as an independent advocate for survivors and affected communities, the Commissioner works alongside government to ensure both schemes are implemented fairly, efficiently, transparently, and with compassion. The Commissioner holds government to account, promoting continuous improvement, and amplifying the voices of those impacted by the Home Office Windrush scandal.

1. Advocacy and community engagement

The Commissioner represents the voices of those affected, bringing their concerns into government decision making. This includes building trust with impacted communities, identifying barriers to engagement, and developing partnerships supporting outreach efforts in the UK and overseas to raise awareness and encourage applications. To build and maintain trust, the Commissioner will ensure the government continues to uphold its commitment that personal information provided through the schemes is not used for immigration enforcement purposes.

2. Compassionate delivery

The Commissioner promotes trauma-informed practices across both schemes, so that processes and caseworkers engage with survivors empathetically and avoid re-traumatisation. This includes holding the Home Office accountable for delivering services in a manner that recognises and responds to the impact of trauma.

3. Fairness, efficiency and transparency

The Commissioner scrutinises all aspects of the schemes to ensure they are transparent, accessible, and consistent with good administrative practice, and deliver intended outcomes for survivors. This includes advocating for simplified application processes, reducing delays, and improving clarity around requirements. Research and analysis will be commissioned to identify and address inefficiencies and practices that undermine trust, with findings used to inform ongoing improvements.

4. High-quality support services

The Commissioner champions access to high-quality support that meets the needs of survivors. This includes ensuring support services are responsive to the diverse needs of those affected and advising on the design and implementation of future phases of the Windrush Compensation Scheme Advocacy Support Fund.