Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applicants for compensation under the Windrush compensation scheme have died while waiting for a decision on their application.

The Windrush Compensation Scheme staff are working hard to ensure cases are prioritised for claimants with critical or life-limiting illnesses.

In the unfortunate circumstances where a claimant has passed away after submitting a compensation claim, before the claim is fully resolved, the team continues to work closely with the appointed representative, usually members of the family, to ensure the compensation payment is made as quickly as possible to the family member.

At the end of April 2023, in line with the latest published Transparency data, out of the 6,122 claims received by the Windrush Compensation Scheme, we are aware of 41 claimants who have unfortunately passed away after having submitted a claim.

Please note that this data is manually recorded and is reliant on the person receiving the information on a claimant’s death, notifying the Windrush Compensation Scheme to record this information.