Correspondence

Update to HASC on Windrush: 19 March 2019 (accessible version)

Published 19 March 2019

Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP
Home Affairs Committee
Committee Office, House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

19 March 2019

Dear Yvette,

Below is my latest monthly update on the work of my department in relation to Windrush, in line with the commitments I have previously made to your Committee. This update reflects the status as of 31 January 2019, and provides further detail on:

• the work of the Taskforce
• the historical review of removals and detentions
• the Windrush Compensation Scheme

The Work of the Taskforce

I have provided detail below on the work of the Taskforce, covering the following areas:

• initial regularisation of status process
• the Windrush Scheme – in-country applications
• the Windrush Scheme – overseas applications

Initial regularisation of status process

On 16 April, the Home Office established a Taskforce to ensure that members of the Windrush generation could evidence their right to be in the UK. This section provides details relating to this immediate Home Office response to Windrush.

The data provided covers:

• individuals contacting the Taskforce and called back by an experienced case-worker
• individuals given documentation confirming their status
• nationality of those given documentation confirming their status
• date of arrival in the UK
• decision timeliness

Some figures for April to December have changed slightly since the last update, because of the normal process of assuring records on the Casework Information Database, which is a live operational system. There may be more adjustments in future as a result of further assurance work. I have included these figures in italics to make clear where these slight changes have occurred.

Call-back referrals

This table relates to people who believed themselves to be part of the Windrush generation and contacted the Taskforce after the call centre opened on 19 April. They were asked for further details during that call and, if they were considered possible Windrush cases, were referred for a call back from an experienced caseworker.

Month	Total number referred for call backs	Number referred for call backs (enquiry received by phone)	Number referred for call backs (enquiry received by email)
April 2018	2,873	2,749	125
May 2018	3,302	2,925	377
June 2018	264	197	67
July 2018	110	89	21
August 2018	15	12	3
September 2018	25	25	0
October 2018	9	9	0
November 2018	5	5	0
December 2018	0	0	0
January 2019	0	0	0

These numbers include only first contact with the Taskforce leading to a call back. For the first ten days of the call centre operation, before the introduction of a bespoke IT system, it was possible for a single individual to receive multiple call backs.

Call and email volumes have continued to significantly reduce and there have been no new Windrush cases contacting the helpline since November.

Individuals given documentation confirming status

The following tables refer to individuals referred to a UK Premium Service Centre after contacting the Windrush Taskforce, and who have been issued with documentation to confirm their right to remain in the UK. Documentation confirming status includes people given Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and No Time Limit (NTL). Data is broken down by date, by nationality and by date of arrival in the UK. This data comes from the Casework Information Database.

Month	Number of individuals given documentation confirming status
April 2018	139
May 2018	1,284
June 2018	698
July 2018	168
August 2018	114
September 2018	28
October 2018	9
November 2018	8
December 2018	5
January 2019	6
Total	2,459

Some of the people helped by the Taskforce are excluded from this data, such as those people who attended a Premium Service Centre appointment but for whom it was confirmed that they already held the necessary documentation, or those who went on to submit a successful application for citizenship under the Windrush Scheme before they had been issued with ILR or NTL documentation.

Nationality of those given documentation confirming status

The Committee will note that one of the individuals in this table is a British citizen. This is a person who approached the Taskforce to request confirmation of their status, and was issued with a document to confirm the British nationality they already possessed.

Nationality	Windrush 1973- 1988	Windrush Family Member	Windrush pre-1973	Not Recorded	Grand Total
Antigua & Barbuda	3		6		9
Aruba			2		2
Australia	10		21		31
Bahamas	1				1
Bangladesh	4		3		7
Barbados	26	10	198		234
British Citizen			1		1
‘British Person Overseas’*	1	2	12		15
Brunei Darussalam			1		1
Burma (Myanmar)	1	1	1		3
Cameroon	1				1
Canada	4		38		42
Curacao			1		1
Cyprus	2		2		4
Denmark			1		1
Dominica	7	1	57		65
Dominican Republic	1	1	2		4
France			2		2
Gambia	1		1		2
Germany			1		1
Ghana	5	3	7		15
Grenada	20	4	74		98
Guadeloupe			3		3
Guyana	13	2	60		75
India	23	3	81		107
Ireland			1		1
Jamaica	114	42	1,036		1,192
Kenya	5		12		17
Libya			1		1
Malawi	1				1
Malaysia	18		12		30
Malta			9		9
Mauritius	4	2	10		16
Morocco	1				1
New Zealand	9	1	12		22
Nigeria	13	4	43		60
Pakistan	9		13		22
Philippines	1				1
Seychelles		1	2		3
Sierra Leone	5	2	6		13
Singapore	2		3		5
South Africa	4		7		11
Sri Lanka	2		4		6
St Kitts & Nevis	3	3	23		29
St Vincent & the Grenadines	9	4	72		85
St.Lucia	7	6	62		75
Stateless Person (Article 1 of 1954 Convention)			1		1
Trinidad & Tobago	15	2	76		93
Uganda	4		7		11
United Rep of Tanzania	3		4		7
United States of America	2	1	6		9
Unspecified Nationality		1	1		2
Zambia	3				3
Zimbabwe	3	2	3		8
Grand Total	360	98	2,001	0	2,459

*‘British person overseas’ includes: British National (Overseas), British Overseas Citizen, British Overseas Territories Citizen, British Protected Person, British Subject.

0.1 Date of arrival in the UK

This table shows whether individuals given documentation arrived in the UK before or on 1 January 1973 or later, based on evidence gathered and recorded by the Taskforce.

Month	Arrived before 1 January 1973	Arrived after 31 January 1972	Family Member	Not recorded	Total
Apr-18	120	15	4	0	139
May-18	1,071	161	52	0	1,284
Jun-18	552	116	30	0	698
Jul-18	131	29	8	0	168
Aug-18	86	24	4	0	114
Sep-18	22	6	0	0	28
Oct-18	8	1	0	0	9
Nov-18	6	2	0	0	8
Dec-18	2	3	0	0	5
Jan-19	3	3	0	0	6

Decision timeliness

This table shows the amount of time taken for decisions for those given documentation based on the time between biometric enrolment and the date of the decision being despatched. Biometric enrolment is a key part of the evidence gathering process, which normally occurs at the individual’s first appointment at the Premium Service Centre. The Taskforce aims to complete the decision-making process within two weeks of all the evidence being gathered. Usually this will be from the point that biometrics are taken, although in some cases further evidence is supplied by the applicant or other sources after this point. Some decisions will fall outside these timescales due to their complexity.

Numbers of decisions have continued to reduce as we move through the outstanding applications made before the Windrush Scheme launch. These outstanding cases were more complex cases which required more detailed information gathering before we could issue documentation to the individuals, hence a greater number of these decisions took longer than 2 weeks.

Month	Decided within 2 weeks of biometric enrolment	Decided beyond 2 weeks of biometric enrolment	Total (by Month)
Apr-18	139	0	139
May-18	1,259	25	1,284
Jun-18	585	113	698
Jul-18	15	153	168
Aug-18	4	110	114
Sep-18	4	24	28
Oct-18	3	6	9
Nov-18	0	8	8
Dec-18	1	4	5
Jan-19	0	6	6
Total	2,010	449	2,459

The Windrush Scheme – in-country applications

On 24 May, I laid a Written Ministerial Statement setting out the Windrush Scheme, which ensures that members of this generation, their children born in the UK and those who arrived in the UK as minors will be able to apply for citizenship, or various other immigration products, free of charge. The Scheme came into force on 30 May.

The following section includes information on:

• number of individuals granted citizenship or NTL/ILR under the Scheme
• nationality of individuals granted citizenship or NTL/ILR under the Scheme
• date of arrival in the UK
• refusals under the Windrush Scheme

Number of individuals granted citizenship or NTL/ILR under the Scheme

Month	Number of individuals granted citizenship or NTL/ILR	Number of individuals granted citizenship	Number of individuals granted NTL/ILR
May-18	0	0	0
Jun-18	590	587	3
Jul-18	900	869	31
Aug-18	791	660	131
Sep-18	382	295	87
Oct-18	529	409	120
Nov-18	490	353	137
Dec-18	335	228	107
Jan-19	453	273	180
Total	4,470	3,674	796

Nationality of individuals granted citizenship or NTL/ILR under the Scheme

There are 40 British citizens included in this table. These are individuals who approached the Taskforce to request confirmation of their status, and were issued with a document to confirm the British nationality they already possessed.

Nationality	Windrush 1973- 1988	Windrush family member	Windrush pre 1973	Not recorded	Grand total
Antigua & Barbuda		3	8		11
Aruba			3		3
Australia	13	1	75		89
Austria	1		1		2
Bahamas			1		1
Bangladesh	12	1	16		29
Barbados	17	19	284		320
Belgium	2		2		4
Belize		1			1
Brazil			1		1
British Citizen	5	20	15		40
‘British Person Overseas’*	4	1	30		35
Brunei Darussalam			1		1
Burma (Myanmar)		1	4		5
Canada	16	1	97		114
Chile	2				2
China			2		2
Curacao			3		3
Cyprus	2		11		13
Democratic Republic of the Congo	1				1
Denmark	2		4		6
Dominica	8	1	86		95
Dominican Republic		2	3		5
Ethiopia		2			2
Fiji	1		2		3
France	6	1	7		14
Gambia			1		1
Germany	5		10		15
Ghana	16	8	25		49
Greece			1		1
Grenada	17	12	124		153
Guadeloupe			3		3
Guyana	8	3	74		85
Honduras	1				1
India	107	14	425		546
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	1				1
Iraq	1				1
Ireland	1	1	4		6
Italy	10	2	69		81
Jamaica	118	122	1,564		1,804
Kenya	6	3	21		30
Libya			1		1
Malawi			1		1
Malaysia	16	7	48		71
Malta	6	1	39		46
Mauritius	6	3	14		23
Morocco			1		1
Netherlands	6	1	4		11
New Zealand	13	3	24		40
Nigeria	12	10	52		74
Norway	1				1
Pakistan	9	3	28		40
Panama	1				1
Portugal			1		1
Seychelles	1	1	2		4
Sierra Leone	3	4	9		16
Singapore	7		4		11
Slovenia		1			1
South Africa	7	1	17	1	26
Spain	1		6		7
Sri Lanka	1	1	6		8
St Christopher & Nevis			2		2
St Kitts & Nevis		2	22		24
St Vincent & the Grenadines	9	10	105		124
St.Lucia	9	13	98		120
Stateless Person (Article 1 of 1954 Convention)			1	1
Sweden	2		2		4
Tonga			1		1
Trinidad & Tobago	16	6	117		139
Turkey	2				2
Uganda	1		12		13
Ukraine			1		1
United Rep of Tanzania	1		6		7
United States of America	13	3	15		31
Unspecified Nationality	1	12	2		15
Uruguay		1			1
Vietnam	1				1
Zambia	2				2
Zimbabwe	9	4	6		19
Grand Total	539	306	3,624	1	4,470

*‘British person overseas’ includes: British National (Overseas), British Overseas Citizen, British Overseas Territories Citizen, British Protected Person, British Subject.

Date of arrival in the UK

Month	Arrived before 1 January 1973	Arrived after 31 January 1972	Family Member	Not recorded	Total
May-18	0	0	0	0	0
Jun-18	532	31	27	0	590
Jul-18	789	34	77	0	900
Aug-18	667	83	41	0	791
Sep-18	308	57	17	0	382
Oct-18	427	72	30	0	529
Nov-18	358	92	40	0	490
Dec-18	240	68	27	0	335
Jan-19	303	102	47	1	453
Total	3,624	539	306	1	4,470

The Windrush Scheme – overseas applications

Since the launch of the Windrush Scheme, the Taskforce has also received applications overseas, albeit in much smaller volumes than from people in the UK. We continue to work through these applications, and the following table details the types of documentation granted to date:

Period	Granted Right of Abode	Granted Returning Residents Visa	Granted Visit Visa	Granted LOTR	Application Withdrawn	Total
May to January 2019	18	50	18	1	12	99

The breakdown of nationalities granted overseas is as follows:

Nationality	April 2018 - Jan 2019
Barbados	2
Canada	3
Cyprus	1
Dominica	1
Germany	1
Ghana	3
Grenada	1
Guyana	3
India	2
Jamaica	44
Malta	1
New Zealand	1
Nigeria	10
St Lucia	6
St Vincent	1
Trinidad and Tobago	4
United States	3
Total	87

Refusals under the Windrush Scheme

We continue to issue refusals to individuals who have submitted applications under the Windrush Scheme. To the 31 January the Taskforce has issued a total of 597 refusals. 335 of these refusals were issued to individuals who are in the UK. The remaining 262 were issued to individuals who applied overseas.

As I outlined in my previous updates, none of the refusal decisions have been made lightly, and all of them have had lengthy and detailed consideration. The decision to refuse in these cases has been checked and challenged extensively at operational level and been approved at Ministerial level. Policy experts have been engaged to ensure that all refusals are in line with our policies and guidance.

Reviews of refusals under the Windrush Scheme

Any individuals who receive refusal notifications have the right to request a free review, which will be undertaken by an experienced member of staff in the Chief Casework Unit. This team is entirely independent of the teams responsible for initial decision-making and can provide additional assurance that decisions are correct. New information may be provided by the applicant during the review, which can lead to an overturned decision. We are learning lessons from cases that have been overturned, to further improve our processes.

The following table outlines the progress of these reviews, as at 31 January:

Period	Requests for review of refusal	Review in progress	Decision upheld	Decision overturned
To end January 2019	50	9	39	2

I will continue to provide updates on these cases.

Support to vulnerable individuals and those experiencing hardship

The Taskforce has a dedicated Vulnerable Persons Team (VPT) to provide help and advice where safeguarding and vulnerability issues are identified. Whilst all members of the Taskforce are equipped to identify, handle and offer support to vulnerable customers, the VPT was established to ensure that those in most urgent need could obtain support and advice via a single point of contact within the Taskforce. The VPT has had notable success in resolving individual issues and building trust. This has been reflected in the feedback provided to the team by those who have received assistance.

By the end of January, the VPT has provided support to 665 individuals with 93 cases ongoing. They continue to receive 10 – 20 new referrals each week.

The VPT have made 258 referrals to DWP in relation to fresh claims and reinstatement of benefits, with 191 individuals given advice and support on issues relating to housing.

Urgent and exceptional support

When I announced the extension of the consultation period for the Windrush Compensation Scheme on 11 October, I acknowledged that there may be some urgent and exceptional cases where it is right to consider whether individual circumstances warrant support to be provided before the Compensation Scheme is in place. The policy for support in urgent and exceptional circumstances, setting out the approach and decision-making process for these cases was published on 17 December. The scheme has a very clear purpose to provide support to members of the Windrush cohort who have an urgent and exceptional need, and compelling reasons why this cannot wait for the full compensation scheme.

The majority of requests received have yet to be concluded and remain under consideration. The Taskforce are working closely with individuals who have submitted requests in order to assess the current circumstances and gather the necessary evidence to support the urgency of their claim.

I would like to emphasise that all these cases have had lengthy and detailed consideration. Any decision made in these cases has been checked and challenged extensively at operational level and been approved a senior official level.

The following table details the status of claims under the policy, as at 31 January:

Period	Requests for support	Under consideration	Approved	Declined
To end January 2019	48	41	2	5

I will continue to provide updates on these cases.

Support to vulnerable individuals and those experiencing hardship

The Taskforce has a dedicated Vulnerable Persons Team (VPT) to provide help and advice where safeguarding and vulnerability issues are identified. Whilst all members of the Taskforce are equipped to identify, handle and offer support to vulnerable customers, the VPT was established to ensure that those in most urgent need could obtain support and advice via a single point of contact within the Taskforce. The VPT has had notable success in resolving individual issues and building trust. This has been reflected in the feedback provided to the team by those who have received assistance.

By the end of January, the VPT has provided support to 665 individuals with 93 cases ongoing. They continue to receive 10 – 20 new referrals each week.

The VPT have made 258 referrals to DWP in relation to fresh claims and reinstatement of benefits, with 191 individuals given advice and support on issues relating to housing.

Urgent and exceptional support

When I announced the extension of the consultation period for the Windrush Compensation Scheme on 11 October, I acknowledged that there may be some urgent and exceptional cases where it is right to consider whether individual circumstances warrant support to be provided before the Compensation Scheme is in place. The policy for support in urgent and exceptional circumstances, setting out the approach and decision-making process for these cases was published on 17 December. The scheme has a very clear purpose to provide support to members of the Windrush cohort who have an urgent and exceptional need, and compelling reasons why this cannot wait for the full compensation scheme.

The majority of requests received have yet to be concluded and remain under consideration. The Taskforce are working closely with individuals who have submitted requests in order to assess the current circumstances and gather the necessary evidence to support the urgency of their claim.

I would like to emphasise that all these cases have had lengthy and detailed consideration. Any decision made in these cases has been checked and challenged extensively at operational level and been approved a senior official level.

The following table details the status of claims under the policy, as at 31 January:

Period	Requests for support	Under consideration	Approved	Declined
To end January 2019	48	41	2	5

In addition to these figures, and as set out in the annex to the monthly report dated 17 December, three exceptional payments for return flights to the UK were made before the official launch of the policy on 17 December.

Historical review of removals and detentions

In a previous update, I informed the Committee that I had written to offer a full, formal apology to the 18 individuals (or, in the case of the three deceased, their families) whom we consider are most likely to have suffered detriment between 2002 and 2017/18 because their right to be in the UK was not recognised, of which 15 have been sent. My officials continue to work proactively to trace the remaining two individuals and next of kin of the other deceased individual so that the three outstanding letters can be sent on.

For the wider group of 164, who were detained and / or removed and who told the Home Office they came to the UK before 1 January 1973, identified in the historical review, which includes the 18, I can now confirm that we have traced 137 individuals. These individuals either already have status, are now in contact with the Taskforce or, in the case of 19 individuals, are deceased. The Taskforce is continuing to work proactively with partners in the UK and overseas to obtain contact details for the remaining individuals, and to make contact.

I will continue to keep the Committee updated on the progress of this work. The work of the historical review unit is being independently assured, and this will be completed shortly.

Contact made with the 83 individuals removed

I would also like to provide an update on the contact we have made with those who have been removed. Of the 83 individuals identified in the historical review who were removed, we have made contact with 54. Those 54 individuals are a subset of the overall total of 137 individuals we have made contact with and which we refer to above.

Of these 83 individuals, 12 individuals are deceased and there are 17 individuals whom we have so far been unable to contact, despite attempting to do so in a number of different ways. For example, where the Home Office does not hold any current contact details, we have contacted the Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC to see if their records confirm a current footprint in the UK or whether a pension from overseas is being received. We have also worked with the relevant British High Commissions to try and make contact with those who may be living overseas.

Of the 54 individuals with whom we have made contact, their current status is as follows.

Status of individuals removed with whom the Home Office has made contact

Current status of individuals contacted
Indefinite Leave to Remain/other Leave to remain granted by the Taskforce	3
10 year visitor visa granted by the Taskforce	3
Right of Abode / Citizenship granted by the Taskforce	11
Will be submitting an application under the Windrush Scheme	30
Confirmed they will not be making an application	7

Windrush Compensation Scheme

On 8 February I made a written statement to the House following the Government’s consultation seeking views on proposals for a Windrush compensation scheme, which had closed on 16 November.

The consultation period, which had been extended on the advice of Martin Forde QC, gave us the opportunity to engage with a range of interested people and organisations. Over 1,000 leaflets advertising the consultation were delivered via volunteers and community groups, and over 2,500 paper copies of the consultation document were distributed. The document was published on gov.uk, and information about the consultation was disseminated via email and social media. Assistance in completing responses was available through a freephone helpline and email address.

During the consultation period twelve focus groups were also held, involving over 300 participants. These took place in Croydon, Birmingham, Cardiff, Newport, Walsall, Woolwich, Leicester, Brixton, Wolverhampton, Reading, Coventry and Telford.

Since the consultation closed on 16 November, we have given very careful consideration to the 1,435 responses that were received from people and organisations, as well as the feedback from the focus groups. These views have been considered in addition to the 650 responses to the call for evidence which preceded the consultation. I have also met with Martin Forde QC to discuss his views on the design of the scheme.

I intend to publish the formal Government response to the consultation shortly, which will set out the detailed design of the scheme. I will also publish more detailed rules and guidance about the scheme, and information about how eligible claimants can apply. The compensation scheme will then be opened for claims as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP