Government announces first Windrush commissioner

The first Windrush commissioner has been announced by the government – seven years after the scandal was first exposed and following the serious impact on thousands of Caribbean migrants in the UK.

The Reverend Clive Foster, a senior pastor who works at the Pilgrim Church in Nottingham, will take up the newly created role on a three-year term.

He is the founder of the Nottingham Windrush Support Forum and serves as vice-chair of the Windrush National Organisation, where he volunteers.

A top priority will be looking at how to improve the Windrush Compensation Scheme which has been described by campaigners as “torturous”.

It has been heavily criticised for taking too long to process claims, low offers and unfair rejections reversed on appeal.

There are ongoing calls for the scheme to be run independently but the Home Office says it is “determined to ensure that victims of the Home Office Windrush scandal are heard, that justice is sped up, and that the compensation scheme is run effectively”.

Mr Foster said: “My aim is to deliver change that the Windrush generations can see and feel in their everyday lives, particularly in how the Windrush status and compensation schemes operate.”

He added: “I will carry out this role independently, without fear or favour, while creating a constructive relationship with government where challenge is welcomed and scrutiny leads to specific, transparent improvements.”

The Windrush scandal was first revealed in April 2018 after it emerged that the Home Office failed to keep records of people with indefinite leave to remain and had not issued the paperwork they needed to confirm their legal status.

Thousands of Caribbean migrants who came to the UK from the late 1940s legally had the right to remain in the UK.

But they were wrongly classed as illegal citizens because of a hostile immigration policy which meant they were denied access to homes, jobs and NHS care.

Some were detained and deported.

In January 2023, the then-Conservative government decided to scrap three recommendations made in an independent review, including a new migrants’ commissioner.

When Labour came into power in 2024 it reversed that decision.

Earlier this week a new report by the charity Justice, the University of Sussex and a London law firm suggested two-thirds of Windrush claimants had not received any compensation, while others are getting significantly less than they may be entitled to due to the lack of funded legal assistance.

Windrush is one of very few major state compensation schemes that does not provide legal assistance and the Home Office has so far rejected calls for it to be introduced.

The new commissioner will be responsible for speaking up for migrants and those affected by systems such as the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

So far the government has paid out nearly £110m towards more than 3,000 claims, according to latest Home Office data.

But 15,000 people were thought to be eligible when it was set up in April 2019.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Earlier this year, we launched a £1.5 million advocacy support fund to provide dedicated help from trusted community organisations when victims are applying for compensation.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The story of the Windrush generations is woven into the fabric of our nation and this government is absolutely determined to right the wrongs they suffered at the hands of the Home Office.

“This is why I am delighted to welcome Reverend Clive Foster as our new Windrush Commissioner. His deep understanding through his own connections and dedicated community work makes him the perfect champion for those affected by this historic injustice.”

The announcement comes in the lead up to Windrush Day on 22 June, which celebrates the contribution Caribbean migrants and their families have made to the UK.