Correspondence

Update to the HASC on Windrush: 23 July 2019

Updated 24 July 2019

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 30 June 2019, and provides further detail on:

• the work of the Taskforce
• the historical cases review
• the Windrush Compensation Scheme

The work of the Taskforce

In total, under both the initial arrangements put in place prior to the establishment of the Windrush Scheme (Table 2), and under the Windrush Scheme itself (Table 6), 7,223 individuals have been granted some form of documentation by the Taskforce.

The reason this figure is different from the sum of Table 2 and Table 6 is because some of those who applied under the initial arrangements went on to submit a successful application for citizenship under the Windrush Scheme.

I have also provided further 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
• refusals under the Windrush Scheme
• publication of revised Windrush Scheme and Guidance
• support to vulnerable individuals and those experiencing hardship
• urgent and exceptional support

Initial regularisation of status process

On 16 April 2018, 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 a caseworker
• 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 2018 to April 2019 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.

Table 1: Call-back referrals

Call and email volumes have continued to reduce significantly and there have been no new Windrush cases contacting the helpline, for applications under the interim arrangements, since November. As such I have removed the table from this update.

Table 2: 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
Apr-18	139
May-18	1,284
Jun-18	698
Jul-18	168
Aug-18	113
Sep-18	28
Oct-18	9
Nov-18	8
Dec-18	5
Jan-19	6
Feb-19	1
Mar-19	3
Apr-19	5
May-19	10
Jun-19	9
Total	2,486

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.

Table 3: Nationality of those given documentation confirming status

The Committee will note that two of the individuals in this table are British citizens. These are people who approached the Taskforce to request confirmation of their status, and were issued with a document to confirm their British nationality.

Nationality	Arrived before 1 January 1973	Arrived after 31 December 1972	Family Member	Not recorded	Grand Total
Antigua & Barbuda	6	2	0	0	8
Aruba	2	0	0	0	2
Australia	21	10	0	0	31
Bahamas	0	1	0	0	1
Bangladesh	3	4	0	0	7
Barbados	199	26	10	0	235
British Citizen	1	1	0	0	2
‘British Person Overseas’*	12	1	2	0	15
Brunei Darussalam	1	0	0	0	1
Burma (Myanmar)	1	1	1	0	3
Cameroon	0	1	0	0	1
Canada	39	4	0	0	43
Curacao	1	0	0	0	1
Cyprus	2	2	0	0	4
Denmark	1	0	0	0	1
Dominica	58	7	1	0	66
Dominican Republic	1	1	1	0	3
France	2	0	0	0	2
Gambia	0	1	1	0	2
Germany	1	0	0	0	1
Ghana	7	5	3	0	15
Grenada	74	19	5	0	98
Guadeloupe	3	0	0	0	3
Guyana	61	14	2	0	77
India	81	23	3	0	107
Ireland	1	0	0	0	1
Jamaica	1,040	111	47	0	1,198
Kenya	13	5	0	0	18
Libya	1	0	0	0	1
Malawi	0	1	0	0	1
Malaysia	12	18	0	0	30
Malta	9	0	0	0	9
Mauritius	10	5	2	0	17
Morocco	0	1	0	0	1
New Zealand	12	10	1	0	23
Nigeria	47	14	5	0	66
Pakistan	13	9	0	0	22
Philippines	0	1	0	0	1
Seychelles	2	0	1	0	3
Sierra Leone	6	6	2	0	14
Singapore	3	2	0	0	5
South Africa	7	4	0	0	11
Sri Lanka	4	2	0	0	6
Stateless Person (Article 1 of 1954 Convention)	1	0	0	0	1
St Kitts & Nevis	23	3	3	0	29
St.Lucia	63	7	6	0	76
St Vincent & the Grenadines	73	8	4	0	85
Trinidad & Tobago	78	17	2	0	97
Uganda	7	4	0	0	11
United Rep of Tanzania	4	3	0	0	7
United States of America	6	3	1	0	10
Unspecified Nationality	1	0	1	0	2
Zambia	0	3	0	0	3
Zimbabwe	3	4	2	0	9
Grand Total	2,016	364	106	0	2,486

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

Table 4: 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 December 1972	Family Member	Not recorded	Total
Apr-18	120	15	4	0	139
May-18	1,072	156	56	0	1,284
Jun-18	554	114	30	0	698
Jul-18	130	29	9	0	168
Aug-18	85	24	4	0	113
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	4	2	0	0	6
Feb-19	1	0	0	0	1
Mar-19	0	1	2	0	3
Apr-19	0	5	0	0	5
May-19	8	2	0	0	10
Jun-19	4	4	1	0	9
Total	2,016	364	106	0	2,486

Table 5: Decision timeliness

This table shows the 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 two 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	109	113
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
Feb-19	0	1	1
Mar-19	0	3	3
Apr-19	0	5	5
May-19	0	10	10
Jun-19	0	9	9
Total	2,010	476	2,486

The Windrush Scheme – in-country applications

On 24 May 2018, 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 2018.

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

Table 6: 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	901	869	32
Aug-18	790	660	130
Sep-18	382	294	88
Oct-18	529	409	120
Nov-18	489	352	137
Dec-18	336	227	109
Jan-19	452	269	183
Feb-19	245	168	77
Mar-19	412	217	195
Apr-19	452	226	226
May-19	418	223	195
Jun-19	348	178	170
Total	6,344	4,679	1,665

Table 7: Nationality of individuals granted citizenship or NTL/ILR under the Scheme

There are 89 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 their British nationality.

Nationality	Arrived before 1 January 1973	Arrived after 31 December 1972	Family Member	Not recorded	Grand Total
Antigua & Barbuda	13		4	0	17
Aruba	3			0	3
Australia	113	19	14	0	146
Austria	4	3		0	7
Bahamas	2			0	2
Bangladesh	25	23	6	0	54
Barbados	339	22	22	0	383
Belgium	2	3		0	5
Belize			2	0	2
Brazil	1			0	1
British Citizen	36	7	46	0	89
‘British Person Overseas’*	42	7	6	0	55
Brunei Darussalam	1			0	1
Burma (Myanmar)	7		1	0	8
Canada	148	25	3	0	176
Cape Verde		1		0	1
Chile		4		0	4
China	2	1		0	3
Curacao	3			0	3
Cyprus	17	4	2	0	23
Democratic Republic of the Congo		1		0	1
Denmark	7	3		0	10
Dominica	103	9	4	0	116
Dominican Republic	3		2	0	5
Egypt		1		0	1
Ethiopia			2	0	2
Fiji	2	1		0	3
Finland	7	1	2	0	10
France	22	17	8	0	47
Gambia	1		1	0	2
Germany	32	12	5	0	49
Ghana	34	24	17	0	75
Greece	3		2	0	5
Grenada	139	23	14	0	176
Guadeloupe	3			0	3
Guyana	84	13	6	0	103
Honduras		1		0	1
India	660	170	46	0	876
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	2	1	2	0	5
Iraq	1	1		0	2
Ireland	6	1	1	0	8
Israel	1			0	1
Italy	297	42	17	0	356
Jamaica	1,821	160	162	0	2,143
Japan	1	1	1	0	3
Kenya	24	9	3	0	36
Libya	1			0	1
Malawi	2			0	2
Malaysia	60	29	15	0	104
Malta	75	9	6	0	90
Mauritius	18	6	4	0	28
Morocco	3	1		0	4
Namibia		1		0	1
Netherlands	14	12	2	0	28
New Zealand	33	13	6	0	52
Nigeria	72	27	30	0	129
Norway		1		0	1
Pakistan	34	17	6	0	57
Panama		2		0	2
Papua New Guinea			1	0	1
Philippines			1	0	1
Poland			1	0	1
Portugal	6		2	0	8
Refugee - Article 1 of the 1951 Convention	1			0	1
Seychelles	2	1	1	0	4
Sierra Leone	15	3	5	0	23
Singapore	6	9		0	15
Slovenia			1	0	1
South Africa	22	8	2	0	32
Spain	22	5	6	0	33
Sri Lanka	7	2	1	0	10
St Christopher & Nevis	2			0	2
St Kitts & Nevis	29		2	0	31
St Vincent & the Grenadines	128	11	13	0	152
St.Lucia	121	10	21	0	152
Stateless Person (Article 1 of 1954 Convention)	1			0	1
Sweden	8	3	2	0	13
Switzerland	1		1	0	2
Thailand		1		0	1
Tonga	1			0	1
Trinidad & Tobago	141	24	9	0	174
Turkey	3	2	1	0	6
Uganda	15	2	1	0	18
Ukraine	1			0	1
United Rep of Tanzania	7	1		0	8
United States of America	32	23	9	0	64
Unspecified Nationality	5	3	26	0	34
Uruguay			1	0	1
Uzbekistan		1		0	1
Vietnam		1		0	1
Zambia	1	2	2	0	5
Zimbabwe	7	12	6	0	25
Grand Total	4,907	852	585	0	6,344

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

Table 8: Date of arrival in the UK

Month	Arrived before 1 January 1973	Arrived after 31 December 1972	Family Member	Not recorded	Total
May-18	0	0	0	0	0
Jun-18	531	31	28	0	590
Jul-18	789	35	77	0	901
Aug-18	665	83	42	0	790
Sep-18	306	58	18	0	382
Oct-18	426	72	31	0	529
Nov-18	357	92	40	0	489
Dec-18	239	69	28	0	336
Jan-19	302	102	48	0	452
Feb-19	179	50	16	0	245
Mar-19	288	79	45	0	412
Apr-19	299	73	80	0	452
May-19	289	58	71	0	418
Jun-19	237	50	61	0	348
Total	4,907	852	585	0	6,344

The Windrush Scheme – overseas applications

Since the launch of the Windrush Scheme, the Taskforce has also received applications from overseas, albeit in 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:

Table 9: Overseas applications

Period	Granted Right of Abode	Granted Returning Residents Visa	Granted Visit Visa	Granted	Application Withdrawn	Total
May 2018 to June 2019	23	91	30	1	27	172

Table 10: Overseas grants by nationality

The breakdown of nationalities granted overseas is as follows:

Nationality	May 2018 – June 2019
Bahamas	1
Barbados	4
Canada	4
Cyprus	1
Dominica	1
Germany	1
Ghana	4
Grenada	2
Guyana	3
India	4
Jamaica	72
Malta	1
New Zealand	1
Nigeria	24
Pakistan	1
Sierra Leone	1
South Africa	1
St Lucia	8
St Vincent	1
Trinidad and Tobago	7
United States	3
Total	145

Refusals under the Windrush Scheme

We continue to issue refusals to individuals who have submitted applications under the Windrush Scheme.

Table 11: Refusals under the Windrush scheme

	Applied in the UK	Applied Overseas	Total
Refusals to 30 June 2019	1,163	1,242	2,405

The Committee will note there has been a significant increase in refusals from overseas applicants. Given the Windrush Scheme enables an individual to apply for settlement in the United Kingdom from overseas without a fee, unfortunately, it has attracted a series of claims without merit. Nevertheless, 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.

Table 12: 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, or otherwise identified, during the review. This 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 30 June 2019:

Period	Requests for review of refusal	Review in progress	Decision upheld	Decision overturned
To end June 2019	171	22	146	3

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.

To the end of June, the VPT has provided support to 893 individuals with 75 cases ongoing. They continue to receive approximately 15 new referrals each week.

The VPT have made 349 referrals to DWP in relation to fresh claims and reinstatement of benefits, with 233 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 was 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 could not wait for the full compensation scheme.

The intention was that the policy would only stay in place until the compensation scheme was operational, at which point the policy would be reviewed.

For now, the urgent and exceptional support policy remains in place and we continue to consider applications for assistance under that policy.

The majority of requests for urgent and exceptional support received have been concluded. Some cases will remain under consideration where the Taskforce is awaiting further information from claimants. The Taskforce is working closely with individuals who have submitted requests in order to assess their 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 full 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 30 June:

Period	Requests for support	Under consideration	Approved	Declined	Withdrawn
To end June 2019	101	26	18	51	6

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

Historical cases review

In August last year I wrote to the Committee with the provisional results of the historical review of 11,800 individuals of Caribbean Commonwealth nationality, born before 1 January 1973, who have been removed and / or detained by the Home Office since 2002. The review sought to identify individuals where there was an indication in their record that they could have been in the UK before 1973. This review identified 164 individuals whose details were passed to the Taskforce so that they could contact them. We have now traced 140 of these individuals. These individuals either already have status, are now in contact with the Taskforce or, in the case of 22 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.

Of the 164 individuals, 83 were removed. As with previous updates to the Committee, I would also like to provide an update on the contact we have made with 55 of these individuals. These 55 individuals are a subset of the overall total of 140 individuals we have made contact with and which we refer to above. 14 individuals within the 83 are unfortunately deceased and there are 14 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 55 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	10
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	9
Awaiting decision	15
Confirmed they will not be making an application	7
Total	55

In my previous update to the Committee, I provided a breakdown of the 164 people identified in the historical review who have been removed and / or detained by the Home Office since 2002. This included the year of removal, type of removal, the nationality of the individual involved and the country to which they were returned. Following additional assurance work, I am providing revised breakdowns below, with some amendments to the year of action.

83 removals (out of 164)

Year	Enforced Return	Verified Return	Voluntary Departure	Port Removal	Total
2002		1			1
2003				2	2
2004					0
2005				3	3
2006	1	5	1	2	9
2007		2	2	4	8
2008		2	1	1	4
2009		5	2	1	8
2010		2	2	2	6
2011	1	2	1	2	6
2012		4		2	6
2013		4		4	8
2014		1	4	2	7
2015		3	2	2	7
2016		4	2	2	8
Total	2	35	17	29	83

112 detentions (out of 164)

Year of detention	Immigration Removal Centre Detention	Police station detention	Port Detention	Total
2002	1			1
2003	1		2	3
2004			1	1
2005	2		7	9
2006	1		5	6
2007			9	9
2008			6	6
2009			11	11
2010			6	6
2011	3		6	9
2012		1	8	9
2013	2		7	9
2014			9	9
2015	1		9	10
2016	1		6	7
2017	2		5	7
Total	14	1	97	112

Compliant Environment sanctions

The review of compliant environment sanctions identified 55 individuals who have had action taken against them/a sanction applied following proactive data sharing by the department and whose records indicate they could have been in the UK before 1973.

Of the 55 individuals there are 46 whose records indicate they were in the UK before 1973 and that they stayed here permanently but were unable to demonstrate their continuous residence. These individuals are therefore most likely to have suffered detriment because their right to be in the UK was not recognised which led to sanctions being applied to them. I have sent apology letters to those 46 individuals or, in the case of those who have deceased, to their families.

Of the 55 there are only three that do not have status that have not yet been in contact with the department. We will be making every effort to get in touch with them.

Current status of the 55 cohort
Limited leave to remain non-Taskforce	2
Existing non-Windrush status	10
Pending consideration	2
Granted naturalisation by Taskforce	28
Granted NTL/LTR by Taskforce	6
Granted ILR by Taskforce	2
Deceased	2
No status no contact	3
Total	55

I also wrote to seven of the ten individuals who had been held in some form of detention. Four of the ten have status and a further one has been in contact with my department. The remaining five do not have status and have not been in contact. We will be making every effort to contact them.

Current status of the 10 cohort
Granted naturalisation by Taskforce	2
Granted NTL/ILR by Taskforce	1
Existing non-Windrush status	1
No status no contact	5
In contact no status	1
Total	10

Windrush Compensation Scheme

The launch and delivery of the compensation scheme is an important step in righting the wrongs experienced by some members of the Windrush generation who had difficulties demonstrating their lawful right to live in the UK. The Home Office has been involved in delivering 17 public engagement events across the UK and attended further events to promote and provide information on the Compensation Scheme and how to submit a claim. It is important to note that the scheme goes beyond members of the Caribbean Commonwealth.

We have held productive Roundtables with key stakeholders, including the Windrush Commemorative Committee, together with Civil Society groups, who are working with and within communities that have been directly affected.

We will continue to take a proactive stance, delivering events to engage and promote both the compensation scheme and the wider work of the Commonwealth citizens taskforce. Full details are available via the gov.uk page.

An independent claims assistance service is operating to support vulnerable claimants and others who face challenges in making a claim by themselves. This assistance is offered through Citizens Advice and is an entirely bespoke service tailored to meet the needs of potential claimants.

Detailed information about the compensation scheme, including the rules that govern the scheme, with the forms and guidance that people need to make a claim, are available online at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/windrush-compensation-scheme. The helpline can be contacted on 0800 678 1925 for those wishing to receive printed copies of the claim form or for any other queries and is free if calling from within the UK.

The Committee will note that on 4 July 2019 I wrote to the Permanent Secretary to provide a Ministerial Direction to make payments under the compensation scheme ahead of specific legislation being passed. That letter can be found on gov.uk at www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-the-home-secretary-to-the-permanent-secretary

Yours sincerely,

Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP