Wendy Williams Lessons Learned Review

Wendy Williams conducted an independent review to address the failings that led to the Windrush Scandal and proposed 30 recommendations, focusing on the main reforms UK Government needed to implement to prevent a repeat of what happened.

Recommendation 1

Ministers on behalf of the department should admit that serious harm was inflicted on people who are British and provide an unqualified apology to those affected and to the wider black African-Caribbean community as soon as possible. The sincerity of this apology will be determined by how far the Home Office demonstrates a commitment to learn from its

mistakes by making fundamental changes to its culture and way of working, that are both systemic and sustainable.

Recommendation 2

The department should publish a comprehensive improvement plan within six months of this report, which takes account of all its recommendations, on the assumption that I will return to review the progress made in approximately 18 months’ time.

Recommendation 3

In consultation with those affected and building on the engagement and outreach that has already taken place, the department should run a programme of reconciliation events with members of the Windrush generation. These would enable people who have been affected to articulate the impact of the scandal on their lives, in the presence of trained facilitators and/or specialist services and senior Home Office staff and ministers so that they can listen and reflect on their stories. Where necessary, the department would agree to work with other departments to identify follow-up support, in addition to financial compensation.

Recommendation 4

The Home Secretary should continue the Windrush Scheme and not disband it without first agreeing a set of clear criteria. It should carry on its outreach work, building on the consultation events and other efforts it has made to sustain the relationships it has developed with civil society and community representatives. This will encourage people to resolve their situations, while recognising that, for some, a great deal of effort will be required to build trust.

Recommendation 5

The Home Secretary should accept and implement the NAO’s recommendation that “The department should be more proactive in identifying people affected and put right any detriment detected. It should consider reviewing data on other Commonwealth cases as well as Caribbean nations” or such agreed variation to the recommendation as is acceptable to the NAO. In doing this work, the department should also reassure itself that no-one from the Windrush generation has been wrongly caught up in the enforcement of laws intended to apply to foreign offenders. The department should also take steps to publicly reassure the Windrush generation that this is the case.

Recommendation 6

The Home Office should:

a) devise, implement and review a comprehensive learning and development programme which makes sure all its existing and new staff learn about the history of the UK and its relationship with the rest of the world, including Britain’s colonial history, the history of inward and outward migration and the history of black Britons. This programme should be developed in partnership with academic experts in historical migration and should include the findings of this review, and its ethnographic research, to understand the impact of the department’s decisions.

b) publish an annual return confirming how many staff, managers and senior civil servants have completed the programme.

Recommendation 7

The Home Secretary should commission officials to undertake a full review and evaluation of the hostile/ compliant environment policy and measures – individually and cumulatively. This should include assessing whether they are effective and proportionate in meeting their stated aim, given the risks inherent in the policy set out in this report, and its impact on British citizens and migrants with status, with reference to equality law and particularly the public sector equality duty. This review must be carried out scrupulously, designed in partnership with external experts and published in a timely way.

Recommendation 8

The Home Office should take steps to understand the groups and communities that its policies affect through improved engagement, social research, and by involving service users in designing its services. In doing this, ministers should make clear that they expect officials to seek out a diverse range of voices and prioritise community-focused policy by engaging with communities, civil society and the public. The Windrush volunteer programme should provide a model to develop how the department engages with communities in future. The same applies to how it involves its staff in feeding back their information and knowledge from this engagement to improve policy and the service to the public.

Recommendation 9

The Home Secretary should introduce a Migrants’ Commissioner responsible for speaking up for migrants and those affected by the system directly or indirectly. The commissioner would have a responsibility to engage with migrants and communities and be an advocate for individuals as a means of identifying any systemic concerns and working with the government and the ICIBI to address them.

Recommendation 10

The government should review the remit and role of the ICIBI, to include consideration of giving the ICIBI more powers with regard to publishing reports. Ministers should have a duty to publish clearly articulated and justified reasons when they do not agree to implement ICIBI recommendations. The ICIBI should work closely with the Migrants’ Commissioner to make sure that systemic issues highlighted by the commissioner inform the inspectorate’s programme of work.

Recommendation 11

The department should re-educate itself fully about the current reach and effect of immigration and nationality law and take steps to maintain its institutional memory. It should do this by making sure its staff understand the history of immigration legislation and build expertise in the department, and by carrying out historical research when considering new legislation.

Recommendation 12

The department should embark on a structured programme of learning and development for all immigration and policy officials and senior civil servants in relation to the Equality Act 2010 and the department’s public sector equality duty and obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998. Every year, the department should publish details of training courses attended, and how many people have completed them.

Recommendation 13

Ministers should ensure that all policies and proposals for legislation on immigration and nationality are subjected to rigorous impact assessments in line with Treasury guidelines. Officials should avoid putting forward options on the binary “do this or do nothing” basis but instead should consider a range of options. The assessments must always consider whether there is a risk of an adverse impact on racial groups who are legitimately in the country. And consultation on these effects should be meaningful, offering informed proposals and openly seeking advice and challenge.

Recommendation 14

The Home Secretary should:

a) set a clear purpose, mission and values statement which has at its heart fairness, humanity, openness, diversity and inclusion. The mission and values statement should be published and based on meaningful consultation with staff and the public and be accompanied by a plan for ensuring they underpin everyday practice in the department. It should establish robust plans for making them central to everything it does. The department should set its mission and values statement in consultation with its staff, networks and other representative bodies, the public, communities and civil society, and publish it online.

b) translate its purpose, mission and values into clear expectations for leadership behaviours at all levels, from senior officials to junior staff. It should make sure they emphasise the importance of open engagement and collaboration, as well as valuing diversity and inclusion, both externally and internally. The performance objectives of leaders at all levels should reflect these behaviours, so that they are accountable for demonstrating them every day.

Recommendation 15

a) The Home Office should devise a programme of major cultural change design for the whole department and all staff, aimed at encouraging the workforce and networks to contribute to the values and purpose of the organisation and how it will turn them into reality. It should also assure itself as to the efficacy of its organisational design. Outputs could include independently chaired focus groups to let staff of all grades and areas of work (particularly underrepresented groups) describe their lived experience, including working within the department, and suggest what needs to change in terms of the department’s mission, values and culture.

b) The Permanent Secretary and Second Permanent Secretary should lead the process, with the support of the senior leadership, who should commit to agreeing a programme with senior-level accountability, including clear actions, objectives and timescales.

c) The workforce and staff networks should help devise the success criteria for the programme and a senior member of the leadership team should be the sponsor for the programme.

d) The department should invest in, develop and roll out a leadership development programme for all senior, middle and frontline managers, where leadership behaviours and values will be made clear.

Recommendation 16

The Home Office should establish a central repository for collating, sharing and overseeing responses and activity resulting from external and internal reports and recommendations, and adverse case decisions. This will make sure lessons and improvements are disseminated across the organisation and inform policymaking and operational practice.

Recommendation 17

The Home Office should develop a set of ethical standards and an ethical decision-making model, built on the Civil Service Code and principles of fairness, rigour and humanity, that BICS staff at all levels understand, and are accountable for upholding. The focus should be on getting the decision right first time. The ethical framework should be a public document and available on the department’s website. A system for monitoring compliance with the ethical standards should be built into the Performance Development Review process.

Recommendation 18

The Home Office should establish more and clearer guidance on the burden and standard of proof particularly for the information of applicants, indicating more clearly than previously how it operates and what the practical requirements are upon them for different application routes. The decision-making framework should include at least guidelines on when the burden of proof lies on the applicant, what standard of proof applies, the parameters for using discretion and when to provide supervision or ask for a second opinion. This should produce more transparent and more consistent decision-making.

Recommendation 19

a) UK Visas and Immigration should ensure that where appropriate it: builds in criteria for increasing direct contact with applicants, including frequency of contact, performance standards and monitoring arrangements; revises the criteria and process for assessing cases involving vulnerable applicants; and reviews its service standards and where appropriate provides new standards based on qualitative as well as quantitative measures. UKVI should ensure it revises its assurance strategy; the learning from recent Operational Assurance Security Unit (OASU) or internal audit reviews; identifies criteria and a commissioning model for OASU or internal audit reviews; contains clear mechanisms for reporting back casework issues to frontline staff, and criteria for supervision, including recording outcomes and learning for the wider organisation.

b) The department should review the UK Visas and Immigration assurance strategy periodically to make sure it is operating effectively, and the reviews should consult practitioners as well as specialist staff to make sure the strategy changes if it needs to.

Recommendation 20

The Home Secretary should commission an urgent review of the BICS complaints procedure. Options could include establishing an Independent Case Examiner as a mechanism for immigration and nationality applicants to have their complaints reviewed independently of the department.

Recommendation 21

Building on the Law Commission’s review of the Immigration Rules the Home Secretary should request that the Law Commission extend the remit of its simplification programme to include work to consolidate statute law. This will make sure the law is much more accessible for the public, enforcement officers, caseworkers, advisers, judges and Home Office policy makers.

Recommendation 22

The Home Office should invest in improving data quality, management information and performance measures which focus on results as well as throughput. Leaders in the department should promote the best use of this data and improve the capability to anticipate, monitor and identify trends, as well as collate casework data which links performance data to Parliamentary questions, complaints and other information, including feedback from external agencies, departments and the public (with the facility to escalate local issues). The Home Office should also invest in improving its knowledge management and record keeping.

Recommendation 23

The department should revise and clarify its risk management framework, where officials and ministers consider potential risks to the public, as well as reputational and delivery risks.

Recommendation 24

The department should invest in training for the Senior Civil Service to ensure appropriate emphasis on the roles and responsibilities of officials to provide candid, comprehensive and timely advice to ministers.

Recommendation 25

All policy submissions and advice to ministers should have mandatory sections on:

a) risks to vulnerable individuals and groups; and

b) equalities, requiring officials to consider the effect of their proposals in these terms.

The department should review the effectiveness of its current processes and criteria for escalating significant policy submissions for approval by the Permanent Secretary or Second Permanent Secretary. Where necessary new processes and criteria should be established.

Recommendation 26

The department should put in place processes to support the use of an electronic archive to record all departmental submissions, minutes and decisions centrally so there is a clear audit trail of policy deliberations and decisions. The department should ensure staff are provided with guidance on the knowledge and information management principles in respect of their work with/support for ministers. This archive should enable users to search for key terms, dates and collections on particular policy risks or issues.

Recommendation 27

The department should establish an overarching strategic race advisory board, chaired by the Permanent Secretary, with external experts including in relation to immigration and representation from The Network274 to inform policymaking and improve organisational practice.

Recommendation 28

Subject to relevant statutory provisions, such as s10 Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, the department should revise its Inclusive by Instinct diversity and inclusion strategy to include its aspirations for senior level BAME representation and a detailed plan for achieving them. Action should form part of a coherent package with ambitious success measures and senior level ownership and accountability. The department should publish comprehensive annual workforce data, so it can monitor progress

Recommendation 29

The department should:

a) review its diversity and inclusion and unconscious bias awareness training (over and above the mandatory civil service online courses) to make sure it is consistent with achieving the objectives of the Inclusive by Instinct strategy and that it is designed to develop a full understanding of diversity and inclusion principles, and the principles of good community relations and public service.

b) produce a training needs analysis and comprehensive diversity and inclusion training plan for all staff.

c) provide refresher training to keep all current and new staff up to date.

d) involve other organisations, or experts in the field of diversity and inclusion in its design and delivery.

e) set and then publish standards in terms of its diversity and inclusion training aims and objectives.

f) monitor learning and development regularly to test implementation and whether it is achieving its strategic objectives.

g) carry out regular “pulse” surveys to test the effectiveness of the implementation of these measures.

Recommendation 30

The Home Office should regularly review all successful employment tribunal claims that relate to race discrimination, harassment or victimisation, and in particular a summary of every employment tribunal judgment finding against the Home Office of race discrimination should be emailed to all SCS within 42 days of the decision being sent by the tribunal, together with a note stating whether an appeal has been instituted. The same arrangements should be made for Employment Appeal Tribunal, High Court, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court judgments within 28 days. It should use any learning to improve staff and leadership training, and to feed back to the senior civil service.