Matthew Rycroft CBE

Permanent Secretary
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Meg Hillier MP
Chair, Public Accounts Committee
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

By email
25 September 2020

Dear Chair,

Follow up to the PAC evidence session of 10 September 2020

During my appearance at the Public Accounts Committee on 10 September, I

committed to write on several points. You also wrote, with the Chair of the Home
Affairs Select Committee, to me on 21 September requesting further information.
Please find all of this information below. I am copying this letter to the Chairs of the
Home Affairs Select Committee and the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

Increase in refusals and applications recoded as invalid

The increase in refusals in June and July is likely attributable to process changes
which resulted in refusal decisions being processed more efficiently. The increase
in invalid applications is attributable to new processes put in place following COVID-
19 lockdown where we ceased requesting supporting documents for some
applications and paused their process. This is reflected in the decrease in invalid
applications in April and an increase in June and July once the lockdown rules
eased and we resumed application processing.

Age and vulnerability of EUSS applications

Of the 3.9 million applications, around 2% are from those aged over 65. This
compares to an estimated 3.3% of EEA nationals resident in the UK aged over 65,
between January 2019 and December 2019, according to the Annual Population
Survey. However, estimates of the resident population of EU/EEA citizens should
be used with caution as they do not take account of people’s intentions and include

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those who do not intend to settle or who need to apply to the EUSS.1 We continue
to provide a wide range of support for hard to reach and vulnerable individuals as a
way of ensuring everyone who requires status under the scheme is applying for it.

Preparedness at the Border

A total of £169m for Transition preparations in 2020/21 (including a continuation of

funding received in 2019/20) has been received, which is bolstering our readiness
preparations. In addition to costs associated with the permanent operational staff
requirement, the funding is being used for project and programme management,
training delivery, contingency requirements, equipment and infrastructure. We have
already recruited 900 staff in Border Force for EU Exit and Transition. We are
recruiting a further 1,100 staff by July 2021, of which 670 are required for the end
of the transition period and the remainder are being recruited to be ready for the
completion of phased border controls in July 2021. Of the 670 required for the end
of the transition period, over half are now in post and the remainder are in the
pipeline.

In response to Ms Cooper’s question about whether leaving the EU on World Trade

Organisation terms requires additional Border Force staff on top of the numbers
already being recruited, the answer is no, as trading on World Trade Organisation
terms rather than an EU Free Trade Agreement does not materially alter the number
of border force officers required. The majority of new Border Force officers will be
delivering new requirements resulting from the UK leaving the EU Customs Union
and the Single Market, such as new customs process, that are similar across both
scenarios.

Irrespective of the outcome of negotiations, Border Force is also planning to provide

further temporary support to ports through the deployment of its mobile Readiness
Taskforce, and also through the use of contingency staff (e.g. HMRC Surge, Agency
recruits). Both will be used to provide additional resilience, to mitigate against the
impact on staffing levels due to Covid-19 and manage any surges in demand at the
end of Transition and moving into 2021.

Windrush Compensation Scheme (WCS)

Non-Caribbean nationals

Current published WCS data indicates that as of 31 July 2020, 172 claims from non-
Caribbean nationals had been submitted. The data also reveals that the majority of
people who have claimed compensation are British citizens. However, it is not
possible to determine the ethnic background of those claimants.

Activity

1 More information on the strengths and limitations of ONS population estimates can be found in
the statistical bulletin “Population of the UK by country of birth and nationality” at
www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bul
letins/ukpopulationbycountryofbirthandnationality/latest#strengths-and-limitations

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Since 2018, the Home Office has delivered almost 125 engagement and outreach
events and surgeries throughout the UK to promote the Windrush Scheme and the
WCS. To ensure vital engagement could continue during the pandemic, we moved
our public community events online, launching our digital programme of events on
21 May 2020. To date, we have held 11 digital events.

On 20 August 2020, the Home Office launched a new £750,000 national

advertising campaign to encourage members of the Windrush generation
(including non-Caribbean people) to get the support and compensation they
deserve. We will be evaluating the impact of the campaign.

Payments and offers

The latest published statistics show that, to the end of July, we had paid over £1
million on 143 claims. A further £800,000 had been offered and was awaiting
acceptance or pending review. The next set of data, which will cover to the end of
August, is due to be published before the end of the month. Pending publication, I
can confirm that, as of the 31 August we had offered over £2.5m in compensation
across 283 unique claims.2

Estimates of cost

As stated, the current estimated costs of compensation payment for the WCS is
£90-£250 million based on a planning assumption of 11,500 eligible claimants.
There inevitably is a high degree of uncertainty around estimated costs and
volumes and the Department continues to review estimates as more payments are
made.

Our cost estimates use a range of data including the volumes of people successful
through the Windrush scheme, operational data on the volume and nature of
claims, the WCS scheme rules and DWP data on average employment income.
The number of applications received to date is lower than expected and that is
why we are continuing our efforts to raise awareness of the scheme, as outlined
above. We want people to receive the maximum compensation to which they are
entitled, and there is no cap on the amount of compensation we will pay out.

Average value of payments

There is significant variation in payment amounts, ranging from £85 to well over
£100,000. Each claim is based on an individual set of circumstances, so average
payment is not a useful or meaningful metric.

We make three types of payment;

2
Some claims have received multiple offers, i.e. an interim then a final offer, and in which case it is only counted as one. Offer data is
internal management information and not assured to the same level as paid data, or published as official statistics.

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• interim payments,
• final payments that are the remainder of payment due, and
• final payments that cover the full value of compensation. In addition, some
claimants have received more than one interim payment.

The average payment issued is £6,751.43; and the average total payment per
claimaint is £7,365.20.

The case of Mr Williams

Mr Williams started employment on 21 August 2013 and shortly afterwards was

asked to provide identification to show his legal immigration status. As he was
unable to do so, his employer ceased his employment on 18 September 2013. Mr
Williams stated he did not receive any payment for this period and was unable to
provide any information about what his potential salary would have been from his
employer. Therefore it was not possible to calculate his award based on actual
earnings. This was explained to Mr Williams in his offer letter.

Mr Williams was offered under the loss of access to employment category.

The offer was made under the general award rules.

Our approach to loss of access to employment is comparable to the Employment

Tribunal’s approach for calculating loss of earnings. An award to cover actual
losses generally would be paid where an individual is able to evidence sufficiently
what these could have been, i.e. what their actual salary was or would have been.

Burden of proof

The scheme awards compensation according to both actual losses and tariff-based
awards. Ministers have decided that where actual losses are claimed, it is right that
we seek to obtain an appropriate level of assurance that these losses were incurred,
in order to fulfil our duty to manage taxpayers’ money properly.
However, we do not expect individuals to meet the criminal standard of proof and
we are in the process of updating our rules and guidance to remove these
references.
Speed of processing claims

Given each claim is unique, both in terms of the impacts an individual has
experienced but also in the evidence and information required to assess the whole
claim fully and fairly, it is very difficult to provide timescales for the resolution of
individual cases, and especially to aggregate that to a wider cohort.

However, given the increasing pace of the operation, our ambition is to have issued
a final casework decision (including not just final offers but also possible nil awards
and decisions on ineligibility) to over half of those who have already made a claim

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by the end of 2020. Others will almost certainly have received interim awards at that
point, too.

As of 31 July 2020, there had been 47 interim payments on 46 unique claims (and
one claim which has received more than one interim payment).

Vulnerable persons and working with local authority housing

You asked about the action the Home Office is taking to compensate people who
have lost permanent council tenancies. The Windrush Compensation Scheme is
able to compensate individuals in a number of ways if they faced difficulties
accessing housing due to an inability to prove their lawful status. An award can be
made for denial of access to housing services and/or homelessness if this occurred.
We will also consider the anxiety and distress this may have caused, and any impact
on an individual’s mental and/or physical health under the Impact on Life category.
Finally, should there have been any significant impacts, loss or detriment of a
financial impact that are not provided for by other categories of compensation, we
may be able to make an award under the discretionary category.

You suggested the Home Office consider funding local authorities to enable the
purchase of accommodation for members of the Windrush generation.
Responsibility for providing housing to those who require it lies with local authorities.

However, the Windrush Vulnerable Persons Team (VPT) was established to provide
the most vulnerable members of the Windrush generation with support and advice,
e.g. with issues around housing, through a dedicated single point of contact. The
VPT engages with local authorities, together with housing providers and homeless
charities throughout the UK, to help secure temporary and permanent
accommodation for individuals, although we cannot direct these organisations to
provide accommodation.

The VPT also provides support to people facing eviction or with rent/mortgage
arrears, including working with their landlord, bank, creditors and bailiffs to find
practical solutions including through its Urgent and Exceptional Payments scheme.

We work hard to provide support to those who need it by working closely with
departments including DWP, NHS, local authority housing, Social Services and
mental health teams to ensure the right teams are involved in providing support
where appropriate.

Response to the Home Affairs Select Committee report on Home Office

preparedness for COVID-19 (coronavirus): management of the borders.

Following the release of the Press Notice accompanying the above report, the
Home Office received requests for comments from several media outlets on the
points the report made.

As per our standard clearance process for issuing responses to journalists, our
response was cleared at Assistant Director level in the Home Office Press Office
and with Special Advisers.

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We will provide our full response to the Committee’s report in due course. In the
meantime, it is acceptable that we should be able to respond to questions from
journalists.

Emergency Services Network (ESN)

Delivery progress on underground transport networks and the expected timelines

for testing.

London Underground

Delivery has been aligned with the TfL Telecoms Commercialisation Programme
(TCP) programme. TfL has progressed procurement and 2 potential suppliers
have provided final tenders which take into consideration the effects of COVID-19.
The programme is involved in the assessment of these bids and contract award is
expected in December 2020.

The successful Concessionaire will work with EE to complete the ESN service in
London Underground by December 2022, in the meantime Home Office continues
to fund work. Currently, it has delivered:

• 393km of Leaky Feeder through TfL tunnels (of 422km total), with this
part of the work due to complete by June 2021.
• Fibre and structured cabling completed for 1/3 of the 4,500 Low Power
Access Points (4G points in stations)

The first test of the ESN network in London Underground was successfully
undertaken by emergency services representatives in July 2019 on a test section
between Jubilee Line from Westminster to Waterloo. In March 2020 TfL
successfully launched a pilot of commercial 4G and ESN services in March 2020
on an extended section of the Jubilee Line between Canning Town and
Westminster stations.

Glasgow Subway

Coverage in the Glasgow Subway is being provided as part of the EE network and
coverage build in all stations is now complete. Delivery of coverage in Glasgow
Subway tunnels was not part of the original scope but is now in scope and is being
progressed with EE. This tunnel coverage is due to be in place by mid-2021.

Tyne and Wear Metro

Coverage in the Tyne and Wear Metro is being provided as part of the EE
network. Of the seven underground stations, all but one has been activated.
Acquisition and build are complete for the remaining station (Newcastle Manors)
and we are planning to activate in October 2021. Delivery of coverage is not part
of the scope of the programme as there is currently no Airwave coverage in these

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tunnels. We have been informed by EE that they are rolling out a commercial
solution that will provide coverage – ESN will leverage this commercial coverage
when it is in place.

Merseyrail

There are seven underground Merseyrail stations, all of which now have activated
ESN coverage. Delivery of coverage was not part of the original scope of the
programme but has now been brought in and is being progressed with EE. This
tunnel coverage is due to be in place by end-2022.

Distribution of Handsets during the testing period.

Samsung XCover Field Pro

The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme has 5000 Samsung
XCover Field Pro devices available to it. So far, 1994 of these devices have been
allocated:

Allocated to Purpose Number

ESN Suppliers Testing 768
ESN Comms Team Demos and Training 120
ESN End Users Testing / D2 Validation 1106

We plan to ensure all 1106 devices allocated to ESN end users will be with those
end users by end-December 2020. We are working with our user representatives
to allocate the remaining 3006 devices which will be distributed during Q1 2021.

Samsung S7

The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme has 1050 Samsung

S7 devices allocated to end users for the purposes of coverage testing.

Cost of the ESN programme to the taxpayer, both past and forecast and all
additional costs associated with the programme for the Department and
emergency services.

The business case sets out the full cost of emergency services communications.
This comprises the cost of the ESN core network, including necessary refreshes
and non-core costs which are met by users locally. These non-core costs include
the initial purchase and subsequent refresh of devices. The case includes the cost
of current communications; this spend is dominated by Airwave but also includes
local mobile communication costs.

The most significant cost driver is time, in particular the cost of Airwave extensions.
Across the three emergency services, Airwave alone costs £400m pa and rising
with inflation.

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 The total forecast spend for the programme at the P50 (most likely level) is £10.3b
through to 2036/37. This includes £2.6b of sunk costs, and £1.7b for existing
contracts, mainly Airwave.

The table below shows the spend broken down between investment and run costs
and profiled over the programme life.
Sunk
£'m, P50 Costs Programme Live
Cost
2029/30
2015/16 -
Financial Year 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 - Total
2019/20
2036/37
Programme
Delivery 444 234 411 220 18 -62 - - - - - 1,264
Subtotal
Central
Programme 390 191 284 130 7 -65 - - - - - 937
(Core) Costs

Local User (Non-

54 43 128 90 11 3 - - - - - 328
Core) Costs

Ongoing Costs
464 206 226 579 364 211 212 240 250 281 2,247 5,280
Subtotal

Central
Programme 464 212 219 210 178 166 148 153 148 164 1,346 3,408
(Core) Costs

Local User (Non-

- -5 7 369 185 45 64 87 102 117 900 1,872
Core) Costs

Total ESN Costs

907 440 637 799 382 149 212 240 250 281 2,247 6,544
(net of Income)

Legacy Costs
1,715 431 572 557 458 37 1 - - - - 3,772
(inc. Airwave)

Aggregate of
ESN and Legacy 2,622 871 1,209 1,356 840 186 214 240 250 281 2,247 10,316
Costs

Subject to commercial negotiation, the annual cost of extending Airwave beyond

December 2022 is likely to be in excess of £450m, taking into account local
Airwave costs.

The annual cost of delay to the ESN programme is likely to be in excess of

£650m, accounting for any assumed Airwave extension (which is subject to
commercial negotiation), programme costs and the cost of delayed benefits
realisation.

The table below shows that overall, the current Net Present Value (NPV) of the
programme based on the preferred option, is £2b.

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Note – Option 1 = do nothing

I trust this information is helpful to the Committee.

Yours sincerely,

Matthew Rycroft
Permanent Secretary