ROMSEY MP Caroline Nokes, who is immigration minister, has apologised after data protection rules surrounding the Windrush compensation scheme have been breached.

The news of the breach comes after the Home Office admitted the administrative error in a written letter.

The department had sent information to Windrush Migrants which enabled other people to be able to see their email addresses.

Ms Nokes said : “Regrettably, in promoting the scheme via email to interested parties, an administrative error was made which has meant data protection requirements have not been met, for which the Home Office apologises unreservedly.”

The breach regarding the compensation scheme which was launched last week according to Ms Nokes affected five batches of emails which each had 100 recipients.

No other personal data was included.

The recipients included Windrush migrants and other individuals who had asked to be kept informed about the scheme.

Ms Nokes added: “A recall was commenced as soon as the problem had been identified.

“The Departmental Data Protection Officer has been informed and an internal review will be conducted to ensure this cannot happen again.

“The Department has voluntarily notified the Information Commissioner’s Office of the incident.”

It is estimated that there are currently 500,000 residents of the Windrush generation who arrived in the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries.

They were granted indefinite leave in 1971, however thousands of children were travelling on their parents’ passports.In 2012, this meant under changes to immigration law that those without documents were asked for evidence to continue working, access services or even to remain in the UK.

Some were removed from the country or held in detention.

Ms Nokes added: “I am firmly committed to doing right by the Windrush generation. The compensation scheme is an important step towards that and I will ensure that action is taken to ensure the highest standards are met not only in the processing of cases, but also in continued efforts to publicise the scheme and ensure those entitled to redress receive it.”