Prisoners: Compensation

(asked on 18th January 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of compensation payments made to prisoners in each of the last three years.


Answered by
Damian Hinds Portrait
Damian Hinds
Minister of State (Education)
This question was answered on 26th January 2023

The total cost of litigation damages paid to prisoners in England and Wales in each of the last three years is provided in the table below.

Year

Litigation Damages Paid on Prisoner Claims

2019-20

£7,621,648

2020-21

£6,074,143

2021-22

£5,258,338

We successfully defend two-thirds of compensation cases brought by prisoners and always make sure debts to victims and the courts are paid before the offender sees a penny.

Regarding claims made under the Human Rights Act, which was introduced by the Labour Government in 1998, the Government’s upcoming Bill of Rights will repeal the HRA and implement a permission stage to ensure trivial cases do not undermine public confidence in human rights (cl.15). The introduction of a permission stage will ensure that courts focus on serious human rights claims and places responsibility on the claimant to demonstrate that they have suffered a significant disadvantage before a human rights claim can be heard in court.

Reticulating Splines