Victims of the Windrush scandal have missed out on substantial compensation because they lacked legal representation when filing their claims, according to a new report by the charity JUSTICE, University of Sussex and the law firm Dechert LLP.
The report found that those without legal support were at a clear disadvantage. On average, claimants who received advice from a lawyer received £83,200 in compensation compared to £11,400 for those without a lawyer. In one case, as reported in the Guardian, an applicant initially received an offer of just £300. After securing legal assistance, their compensation rose to £170,000. Another individual was initially awarded nothing but was eventually granted £295,000 after obtaining legal assistance.
The report highlights the importance of lawyers in assessing eligibility of their clients, identifying and obtaining sources of evidence, and compiling witness statements from claimants and other witnesses to support the claims. It also found that lawyers could obtain material that the Compensation Scheme had ‘failed to request’ and highlight the significance of that evidence.
Introducing the report, Dr I Stephanie Boyce, former President of the Law Society of England and Wales, said that ‘claimants must have access to independent legal advice’ so that decisions are made with ‘clarity and confidence’.
Quoted in the Guardian, Marcel Carry, who was not eligible to work for 5 years due to the error in his immigration status, said that ‘it doesn’t make sense that legal aid is not available. The process causes so much trauma. They keep asking you for more and more evidence, which most people can’t provide’.
The Windrush scandal resulted from the wrongful classifications of legal UK residents, most of whom were of Caribbean descent, as illegal immigrants by the Home Office. As explained by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, many were wrongly detained, denied employment and healthcare, or were threatened with their removal from the country as they couldn’t show the necessary documentation to prove their right to remain and work in the UK. In 2020, the Windrush Lessons Learned Review called for a systemic change and for the Home Office to ‘open itself up to greater external scrutiny’.
In response to the latest report, a spokesperson for the Home Office said that ‘this government is determined to ensure that victims of the Home Office Windrush scandal are heard, that justice is sped up, and that the compensation scheme is run effectively’. The government have previously announced a £1.5 million support scheme to provide help with compensation claims.
A Home Office spokesperson said that they ‘recognise there is more to be done, which is why ministers are continuing to engage with community groups on improvements to the compensation scheme, and will ask the new Windrush commissioner to recommend any further changes they believe are required’.
