Action for Race Equality (ARE) welcomes the Home Office’s announcement of a ‘fundamental reset’ regarding the Windrush Generation, aiming to deliver justice for survivors of the Windrush Scandal.
On Thursday 24th October, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper unveiled a new £1.5 million fund to enhance advocacy support for victims applying to the Windrush Compensation Scheme. This initiative also includes the appointment of a new Windrush Commissioner, tasked with ensuring the government implements the recommendations from the Wendy Williams Lessons Learned Review. Additionally, the disbanded Home Office Windrush Unit has been re-established to strengthen accountability.
At a Home Office roundtable following the announcement, Jeremy Crook OBE, Chief Executive of ARE, welcomed the Home Secretary’s commitment and announcement to reset the compensation scheme and deliver justice for survivors of the Scandal and their descendants.
Jeremy commented:
ARE, with the support of our Windrush Justice Programme advocacy organisations, looks forward to working with Ministers, the new Commissioner, officials and Windrush stakeholders to ensure these new measures make it easier for Windrush victims to get justice, and, importantly, with the least distress and trauma.”
I encouraged the Home Secretary, and the future Commissioner, to consider the Wendy Williams Lessons Learnt recommendations; ARE’s Windrush Manifesto and the Windrush National Organisation’s 12-point plan at the same time. If these recommendations are implemented effectively victims will see swifter and better Compensation Scheme outcomes.”
At the roundtable, Jeremy Crook went on to draw attention to the essential need to rebuild trust and support Black Caribbean communities in the UK, who have been disproportionately affected by the Scandal, with many impacts still unrecognised by the existing Compensation Scheme. These include generationally with many young Black Caribbean people facing unequal outcomes in schooling through to employment.
ARE believes the new Commissioner must be accessible, connected to our communities, and capable of championing the Windrush community and the organisations that support survivors. They must be able to uplift them after the years of emotional, financial and psychological trauma they have suffered following the Hostile Environment policies created under the last government.
To ensure effective advocacy in the renewed Compensation Scheme, we urge the Home Office to improve the quality of support provided. This includes enhancing cultural competency training for case workers to better address the sensitive nature of claims. These recommendations are based on our 3-year Windrush Justice Programme, which has been supporting 20+ grassroots groups, up and down the country.
We remain committed to advocating for justice for the Windrush generation and will continue to work with those most impacted to hold the government accountable.
For Media queries, please contact: Senior Communications Officer, Payal Bhavsar
