Newham Council has responded to a story in The Guardian published today regarding a Newham family affected by Home Office Windrush issues.
Newham Council has responded to a story in The Guardian published today regarding a Newham family affected by Home Office Windrush issues.
Councillor Charlene McLean, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Community Neighbourhoods said: “I am embarrassed this has happened and apologise to Ms Lawrence on behalf of the Mayor of Newham and the council. We are hugely proud of all our migrant communities and that is why an important motion was passed last year to ensure the Windrush generation and their relatives would be fully supported by the council with all policies and procedures reviewed to reflect this. I am sorry this did not happen in this case.
“Although officers followed the law with regards to this particular case, this is not in line with usual procedure and more action could have been taken to check this resident’s UK citizenship. All relevant staff will be given additional training with regards to assessing the eligibility of Windrush cases to ensure this does not happen again. Alongside charity Praxis, we have continued to support Ms Lawrence and have found her a suitable property in a neighbouring borough which she has accepted.”