Guidance

Payment scheme for former British child migrants: guidelines

Updated 21 October 2019

1. Background

The government has set up a payment scheme for former British child migrants, who were separated from their families and sent overseas as part of the UK government’s historic participation in child migration programmes.

The scheme was set up by the government after a recommendation made in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) interim report and its report on child migration programmes, which were both published in spring 2018.

The government announced that it would set up a payment scheme in its response to the inquiry in December 2018, in recognition of the fundamentally flawed nature of the historic child migration policy.

2. Payments

All eligible former British child migrants will be able to apply for a payment, under a scheme set up by the UK government.

The payments are being made in respect of the harm done to eligible former British child migrants in being separated from their families and sent overseas as part of the UK government’s historic participation in child migration programmes.

Payments will be made to all eligible former British child migrants, regardless of whether they suffered abuse.

Each eligible former British child migrant will receive a payment of 20,000 GBP.

3. Eligibility for a payment

The scheme is open to any former British child migrant who was alive on 1 March 2018 or the beneficiaries of any former child migrant who was alive on 1 March 2018 and has since passed away.

The payment will be payable to all applicants regardless of their individual circumstances, including the receipt of payments received from other governments or through private legal action.

To apply, you must have been sent from the following countries before 1971 when you were below the age of 16:

• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland
• the Channel Islands
• the Isle of Man

You must have been sent by a voluntary care agency (or local authority), and you must not have been accompanied or sent by or sent to live with your parent(s), adult relative(s) or guardian(s), to:

• Australia
• Canada
• New Zealand
• the former Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)

3.1 Beneficiaries

A beneficiary can claim directly with the appropriate legal documentation to support their claim.

Alternatively, a claim can be made on their behalf by any person with a legal right to administer the estate of the former British child migrant. In the UK, except for Scotland, the appropriate legal documentation would be one of the following:

• a grant of probate
• where the claimant has been appointed the legal personal representative of the deceased, the ‘letters of administration’
• letters of administration with will annexed (where the named executor is unwilling/unable to act)
• for Scotland, the equivalent of both grants of probate and letters of administration is ‘confirmation’, which is confirmation by the relevant court of who has been appointed to administer the estate
• for countries outside the UK, claimants will need to show the equivalent documentation

4. Exclusions

The payment scheme is not open to those who migrated as part of any voluntary family, single parent or youth migration scheme.

The scheme does not apply to those who:

• travelled on the one or two parent schemes to Fairbridge in Australia in the late 1950s, 1960s or 1970s
• were sent under a youth migration scheme (such as the Big Brother Movement) and placed immediately into employment on arrival (see definition below)
• travelled on an assisted immigration scheme
• were sent to relatives living abroad
• were evacuees during the war years
• were sent from Malta

A youth migration scheme is defined as a scheme for young people, the primary purpose of which was for that young person to take up employment or employment-related activities (for example, an apprenticeship or vocational training scheme) in the country to which they migrated.

You will not be eligible to receive a payment under this scheme if you have already received a payment under any other UK scheme (in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales) in recognition of your experiences or status as a British child migrant. You must inform the Child Migrants Trust in your application of any payments you have received from UK governments and confirm that you have not received a payment for the same reason from another scheme

5. Applying for a payment

Applications for payment were opened on Friday 1 March 2019 and will be handled by the Child Migrants Trust. Find out how to apply.

6. Appeals

If your application for a payment was unsuccessful, you can appeal the decision to the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom.

An appeal may be considered if you feel we were incorrect to decide that you were not eligible for a payment under the scheme criteria.

We will not consider an appeal where you agree you are not eligible under current criteria but disagree with the criteria.

If you wish to appeal, see the details on how to appeal.

7. Tax, pensions and benefits

If you are resident in the UK:

• you will not have to pay income tax or capital gains tax on the payment that you receive

• receipt of the payment will not affect your entitlement to or the amount of any UK benefits or state pension.

If you live outside the UK:

The payment will be subject to the taxation, pension and benefit laws which apply in your country of residence.

If you have questions about whether you need to pay tax on the payment or whether it will affect your entitlement to or the amount of pensions or other payments you receive, you should consult the authorities in your country of residence.