Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) total value of compensation orders issued by the courts and (b) average compensation order issued by each offence type was in each year since 2015; and what the ten largest compensation orders issued by the courts were in that period.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on total compensation and amount paid, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, which can be found in Table A2 in Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly: June 2022 publication.

Information on the average value of compensation orders, on an all-disposal basis, by offence type, in England and Wales, for year ending December 2015 up to year ending December 2017 is available in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2020 (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 6.04 MB)

and for year ending June 2018 up to year ending June 2022 is available in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2022 (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 83.2 MB).

The ten largest compensation orders issued by the courts between 2015 and June 2022 are listed in the attached spreadsheet.

Courts may impose a compensation order on an offender requiring them to make financial reparation to the victim for any personal injury, loss or damage resulting from the offence. Compensation may be ordered for such amount as the court considers appropriate having regard to any evidence including any representations made by the offender or prosecutor. There is no limit on the value of a single compensation order handed down to an adult offender. However, in determining whether to make a compensation order, and the amount to be paid under such an order, the court must take into account the financial circumstances of the offender.