Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what costs may be incurred by a victim when applying for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Answered by Mike Penning
According to latest figures, in the financial year 2013-14 we made payments totalling more than £242m to victims of violent crime.
We also aim to make our application process as simple as possible. Applicants need only complete one form when applying to Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) and we have an online application service. Those who have no access to online services, or who need additional support, can apply by phone. Depending on the nature of the claim, applicants may be asked to provide evidence to support their claim, for example: medical reports or employment information.
In the last financial year 94 per cent of applicants we surveyed after receiving their decision, including people who were refused compensation, said they were happy with our service.
Where necessary, CICA will ask applicants to provide basic medical evidence to support their claim. Applicants are expected to meet the cost of a medical report up to the value of £50. If additional medical information is required this will be paid for by CICA. If an applicant cannot afford to pay for the initial medical report, CICA will pay and deduct this from any award of compensation made. There are no other charges associated with making a claim.
An application received in one financial year may not necessarily be resolved in the same financial year. Although we aim to make compensation payments as quickly as possible, we have a duty to the taxpayer to investigate claims properly while ensuring that the applicant gets the level of compensation they deserve. In some cases it may not be in the best interests of an applicant to finalise a claim before the long term implications of an injury can be properly assessed.
Question | 2013 | 2014 |
(224448) How many victims were granted compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority | 21,846* | 16,238* |
(22449) How many people applied for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority | 33,574 | 32,297 |
*This is the total number of victims compensated and their claims concluded within those calendar years.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what procedures are in place to inform victims of the reasons for any delays in criminal matters being listed for court.
Answered by Mike Penning
Witness Care Units (WCUs) update Victims on information relating to their case. Under the Code of Practice for Victims courts have responsibility for providing information to WCUs about matters affecting the victim and WCUs then provide a single point of contact for victims throughout the duration of the case.
The Government has committed to creating a system that puts the highest emphasis on victims’ needs and set out their rights clearly in legislation.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what government funds are available for victims' support organisations in England and Wales.
Answered by Mike Penning
This Government is committed to supporting victims, by ensuring that they have access to high-quality, effective and timely support. We have made more money than ever before available for this purpose, increasing the contribution offenders make to the costs of providing support, and more than doubling the victims budget to over £92million for 2015/16.
Locally accountable Police and Crime Commissioners are now responsible for the provision of support services in their areas and will receive the bulk of the available funding with which to do so. This was £63.15m in 2015/16.
Some services remain nationally commissioned. This includes support for families bereaved by homicide, support for victims of rape and modern slavery, and support for witnesses at court. National services have recently been competitively re-commissioned.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the delays in criminal proceedings in courts in England and Wales.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Transforming Summary Justice programme is a collaboration between the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts designed to ensure that magistrates’ court cases are prepared and prosecuted in a timely and efficient manner. It is in the process of being rolled out and will be operating throughout England and Wales by May 2015. The recent report of the Review of Efficiency in Criminal Proceedings, which was carried out by Sir Brian Leveson, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, makes detailed recommendations for improving efficiency, some of which build on these initiatives. The Government is now considering these recommendations.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many cases in which a suspect had been charged for offences committed in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 a trial had not commenced after (i) six and (ii) 12 months had elapsed.
Answered by Mike Penning
Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) records the date of offence and date of trial in magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court. However, a number of cases do not go to trial, either because the defendant pleads guilty or the prosecution drop the case. A number of offences committed during 2014 will not yet have reached six or twelve months since receipt by HMCTS. To answer this question would require the creation of complex reports to combine the variables within the question, which would then need to be tested, this would incur disproportionate costs.
Also, offences committed in 2014 would be incomplete as many will not yet have reached six or 12 months since they were received by HMCTS.
The Ministry of Justice does, however, publish official statistics on the timeliness of criminal cases in Criminal Courts Statistics Quarterly at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.