Windrush: Care leavers say compensation is being denied

Government compensation is being denied to some Windrush victims who were in care as children, it is claimed.

The Windrush scandal saw thousands of UK residents - most of whom were originally from the Caribbean - wrongly classed as illegal immigrants.

The government launched a compensation scheme in 2018 but a Nottingham campaigner says many people who were in care were struggling to access records.

The government said being in care was not a barrier to compensation.

Paul McCaffrey, 63, from Nottingham, is one of the claimants who have been denied compensation.

He came to the UK from Jamaica at the age of 10 and lived at the Beechwood Children's Home in the city.

He has never been able to obtain any records of his legal status from either Nottingham City Council or Nottinghamshire County Council, both of which ran the home, which he said had hampered his employment opportunities.

He said he felt "devastated" his claim had been rejected.

"I've been through a lot," he said. "I feel like nobody cares. It's like they don't want to give you [compensation]."

Clive Foster, a city pastor, is vice chair of the Windrush National Organisation (WNO), a nationwide assembly of advocates and reformers.

He described the issue as an "emerging" one.

"At the moment we are aware of a dozen cases," he said. "I wasn't aware how many people of that generation had contact with their local authority.

"The reasons for that are very wide-ranging. Sometimes children came to live with one parent in this country and unfortunately that parent passed away.

"Sometimes children were sent to live with relatives, the relationship broke down and they ended up in care."

He said the group was still trying to establish exactly why local authorities were struggling to provide the relevant records.

"Some people had an experience in the care system that was not pleasant and just dealing with the authority can be re-traumatising," he said.

"They've been in care and the problem is that once they've come out of care, they can't get the paperwork they need to prove their status.

"It's a big concern."

He said the WNO had approached the Home Office for discussions about the issue.

A city council spokesperson: "We are not aware of a request for records from Mr McCaffrey but will be happy to look into this if he contacts our information compliance team."

He said he was unable to say what had happened specifically to Mr McCaffrey's records but the fact there was no national policy in place determining how long childcare records should be kept until the early 1990s meant their destruction had not been uncommon.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "It is wrong to suggest having previously been in care is a barrier to being awarded compensation.

"We have made offers to individuals who have had difficulties proving their status for these reasons.

"The Home Secretary and the department remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that members of the Windrush generation receive every penny of compensation that they are entitled to."

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