Calls for free legal representation for Windrush compensation claims
Seven years after the Windrush scandal broke, survivors are still being "failed by the compensation scheme"
Seven years after the Windrush scandal broke, survivors are still being failed by a compensation scheme that "systematically denies them justice".
That's according to Hetticia McIntosh, who arrived in the UK from the Caribbean as a child in the 1960s, and lived in Ilford growing up.
She, as well as her husband Vaun, applied to the Windrush compensation scheme in 2021 having been denied renewal of their British passports in the 1980s.
Currently approximately a third of eligible applicants receive compensation.
Hetticia tells Greatest Hits Radio "many claimants are being denied justice because they can’t afford legal help".
"We have survivors who are living on the streets, who have dementia, who cannot physically fill out these forms, legal aid would significantly help."
Hetticia and Vaun were two of 5500 applicants who have had their applications to the Windrush Compensation Scheme rejected.
"Our first application was refused despite our significant submission of evidence, I was shocked."
They applied for compensation again in 2021.
Hetticia continues: "We were lucky to find a pro bono lawyer at the Windrush Justice Clinic at Southwark Law Centre.
"After exchanging many letters with the Home Office and gathering a huge amount of evidence, I was finally awarded £40,000 in January 2025.
"However, they are still refusing Vaun’s application for compensation."
Vaun, who is of Scottish descent, had a British passport but when he applied to renew it in the 1980s he was told he was not British.
He subsequently lost his job as he could not prove his status and the family began to struggle financially, and made the decision to return to the Caribbean to find work.
After the Windrush scandal broke in 2018, their right to live in the UK was finally recognised and they were given British citizenship.
New research by JUSTICE, Dechert LLP and the University of Sussex reveals compensation claimants without lawyers receive an average of £11,400.
Claimants with legal support receive £83,200 in compensation on average, more than seven times the amount.
Hetticia has created a petition with more than 16,000 signatures calling for free legal representation for Windrush compensation claims.
She says: "Victims of other major scandals, such as the Horizon IT scandal and the Infected Blood Scandal, are entitled to free legal representation."
"Windrush survivors are struggling alone through complex immigration law."