Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support her Department provides to victims of violent crimes who have been waiting more than twelve months for a decision on their Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority claim.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the 2012 Scheme) does not prescribe a time limit for applications to be decided.
The majority of applications are decided within 12 months. Each case must be considered on its own facts and assessed based on the information available. In almost all cases, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) needs to get information from third parties such as the police and medical authorities to help assess applications.
Some applications will by necessity take longer to decide. This could be where information is not available due to ongoing court proceedings, CICA needs time to assess the long-term impacts of complex injuries (e.g. brain injuries), or where there is an application for loss of earnings where the 2012 Scheme requires at least 28 weeks of loss.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if her Department will support the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to reduce claim processing times.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the 2012 Scheme) does not prescribe a time limit for applications to be decided.
The majority of applications are decided within 12 months. Each case must be considered on its own facts and assessed based on the information available. In almost all cases, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) needs to get information from third parties such as the police and medical authorities to help assess applications.
Some applications will by necessity take longer to decide. This could be where information is not available due to ongoing court proceedings, CICA needs time to assess the long-term impacts of complex injuries (e.g. brain injuries), or where there is an application for loss of earnings where the 2012 Scheme requires at least 28 weeks of loss.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much of the UK's trade with Morocco is with Western Sahara.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 26th June is attached.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 58258 on Asylum: Syria, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting Syrian asylum seekers in the UK the right to work throughout the period in which all asylum interviews and decisions relating to Syrian nationals are paused.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asylum seekers who have had their claim outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own, can apply for permission to work. Those permitted to work are restricted to jobs on the Immigration Salary List. This policy applies to Syrian nationals whose asylum claims have been temporarily paused while we await reliable and objective information to enable an accurate assessment of the risk they may face upon return to Syria.
The pause on Syrian asylum claims is under constant review and as soon as there is a clear basis upon which to make decisions, we will resume the processing of them.