Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to providing entitlement to legal aid to Windrush scandal victims to navigate the compensation process; and what steps they plan to take, if any, to improve the accessibility of the compensation scheme.

We have designed the Compensation Scheme to be as clear and simple as possible, so people do not need legal assistance to make a claim. However, for those who want or need support to make a claim, the Home Office provides free assistance in making applications through our independent claims assistance provider – We Are Digital (WAD).

WAD has extensive experience of dealing with isolated and vulnerable customers and working with the Home Office and, through their partners, have a nationwide network of community-based centres.

Were we to allow applicants to recover legal costs in applying to the Scheme, we may serve to encourage organisations to take advantage of potentially vulnerable individuals and charge them for unnecessary support to complete a claim.

Claims forms were redesigned in 2021, in collaboration with stakeholders to make them easier to complete. This included obtaining the Crystal Mark, demonstrating our commitment to clarity, and communicating with claimants using plain English.

Decision makers also work with claimants to gather information on their behalf.