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It’s a Sunday, so indulge us briefly. This is a thread about 2 aspects of the Windrush Compensation Scheme and how they interact with circumstantial political factors to thwart/ grossly understate claims. Warning: may cause ripping out of hair/rending of garments. [1/25]
It’s a Sunday, so indulge us briefly. This is a thread about 2 aspects of the Windrush Compensation Scheme and how they interact with circumstantial political factors to thwart/ grossly understate claims. Warning: may cause ripping out of hair/rending of garments. [1/25]
The Scheme was launched on 3 Apr 2019. In the 15 months since, it has paid out 60 claims totalling £360k. (A further £280k worth of “offers” have been made.) About £300k paid out was for 24 claims, paid from Jan-Mar 2020. 18 of those offers – 75% - were appealed.
[2/25]
[2/25]
People don’t generally engage with the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the @ukhomeoffice because they fancy taking a wild shot at a bigger prize - there are more efficient ways of banging your head against a wall. The 18 appellants clearly felt their offers were insufficient. [3/25]
The anecdotal evidence matches. @GlendaCaesar (offer in Q4 2019) was offered the meagre sum of £22k for 10 years of upheaval, lost income, benefits and mental anguish. Anthony Williams was offered £19k for 7 years of lost income, benefits and anguish. And all his teeth. [4/25]
Let’s dig into the framework for the numbers. The Scheme is set up to pay out under 6 different heads, 5 substantive and 1 discretionary. We’re going to look at just 2 of the substantive areas for now: impact on life (FUN image coming up) and lost employment. [5/25]
This is extracted directly from Annex H of the rules. We've condensed bits to make it fit. The full rules are linked at the end if you'd like the whole version. [6/25]
![This is extracted directly from Annex H of the rules. We've condensed bits to make it fit. The full rules are linked at the end if you'd like the whole version. [6/25]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ed2BSK1WkAARkg-.png "This is extracted directly from Annex H of the rules. We've condensed bits to make it fit. The full rules are linked at the end if you'd like the whole version. [6/25]")
You’ve read the many profiles of Windrush victims. If you’re here, you know Anthony’s story. You may have seen the excellent Sitting in Limbo (if not, it’s on iPlayer). We’ll just leave that up there – draw your own conclusions. [7/25]
In drawing those conclusions, think about what it’s like to sacked; to be told, by your country, that you are unwanted, unwelcome, and *in trouble with the law*; to lose your health (physical and mental); to lose your dignity. What level of harm does that take us up to? [8/25]
On to lost employment. The national *minimum* wage in 2010 would have yielded gross income of roughly £10,502, assuming 7 hours/day over 253 working days. The minimum wage has increased every year since. (This is just a guide – actual income wld have varied) [9/25]
Remember – Anthony’s TOTAL compensation for seven years was £19k; @GlendaCaesar’s was £22k for 10 years. [ https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/17/windrush-victim-rejects-insulting-offer-of-22000-payout-compensation] [10/25]
Lost employment is made up of 2 parts: an actual earnings award and a general award. Lost actual earnings starts from the date employment was terminated because legal resident status was revoked and ends, at the earliest, 3 months after legal status is/was awarded. [11/25]
Actual earnings have to be evidenced, and here we crash into the wall of political will. First, better commentators than us have pointed out and questioned the fact that the scheme evaluates claims and evidence using the criminal standard of proof. [12/25] https://twitter.com/Nadine_Writes/status/1287041474006331393?s=20
Here’s @pritipatel waxing lyrical about the humane, compassionate standard that will be applied to assessing these claims. Would a humane, compassionate organisation treat people who by its own admission have been monstrously wronged as defendants? [13/25] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/21/priti-patel-promises-compassionate-home-office-after-windrush-scandal
(Sidebar while we’re on humanity and treating people with respect: here’s @SajidJavid, who unveiled this scheme while Home Secretary, getting Paulette Wilson’s name wrong. You couldn’t make it up.) [14/25]
![(Sidebar while we’re on humanity and treating people with respect: here’s @SajidJavid, who unveiled this scheme while Home Secretary, getting Paulette Wilson’s name wrong. You couldn’t make it up.) [14/25]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ed2CU9vXkAEye2U.png "(Sidebar while we’re on humanity and treating people with respect: here’s @SajidJavid, who unveiled this scheme while Home Secretary, getting Paulette Wilson’s name wrong. You couldn’t make it up.) [14/25]")
This isn’t conjecture. Ivan Anglin was asked for payslips from a job in 1998. In 1998, he was thrown out of the country within 48 hours to sort out his affairs. Plenty of time to save payslips for an unforeseeable event 20 years in the future. [15/25] [ https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/lifestyle/family/northampton-windrush-victim-criticises-insulting-red-tape-after-more-year-without-apology-or-compensation-2915043]
Anthony Williams was turfed out of a then-new job when his employer was contacted by @ukhomeoffice. They didn’t pay him for his month’s work. He submitted the offer letter for that job detailing hours and pay rates. [16/25]
Rule D8(c) (Annex D) suggests the details in the offer letter ought to have sufficed, even though he was never paid. It didn’t. @ukhomeoffice did not see fit to give him an actual earnings award. [17/25]
That takes us to the ‘general award’. Which is capped at 12 months, by dint of rule D13(e). Scroll down to rule D15, and that number is itself capped at £1,147 net per month. [18/25]
We have seen some evidence that actual earnings awards are rejected for a panoply of reasons; only general awards get made in those cases. Convenient. [19/25]
One last thing on the actual earnings point: Rule 6.4(a) allows @ukhomeoffice to request further information/evidence from a claimant if it feels aspects of the claim are unsubstantiated. [20/25]
We know this never happened in Anthony’s case – he was met with over a year of radio silence. No caseworker was assigned. His calls to the Helpline went unanswered; he never even got a contact name. [21/25]
And while we’re on the subject of the Helpline, have a look at this (cc @GoodLawProject): https://www.gov.uk/government/news/windrush-compensation-scheme-claimant-tender-assistance-launched [22/25]
We’ll be back with more on the published data and the remaining heads of compensation another time, because frankly, we’ve lost the will to live. If you’ve made it this far, thank you, and please share the appeal for Anthony – https://gf.me/u/yg6ciz23/25 [23/25]
Primary Source 1: Windrush Compensation Scheme: Full rules [ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-full-rules] [24/25]
Primary Source 2: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: May 2020 [ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-data-may-2020] (open source doc, and it’s a touch irritable when launching); the rest as linked in the thread. [25/25]
