Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2022 to Question 132268, on Ministry of Justice: Accidents, if he will publish data on how much compensation his Department has paid out following accidents that have taken place in courts in England and Wales in each of the last three years inclusive of legal costs paid by his Department.

The following table sets out the total amount of compensation paid to individuals and the costs paid to legal representatives, by the Ministry of Justice in each of the last three financial years, where those payments relate to claims or potential claims made against the department in respect of accidents that took place on the estate administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Variation in levels of payments and costs between years is determined by a range of factors, but principally the severity of the injuries and associated impacts sustained or suffered by respective claimants.

The payment of compensation or costs in any particular year does not necessarily relate to the timing of the accident or incident concerned. In more complex and contentious cases, the accidents concerned may have occurred some years before the settlement payments are made.

**Figures provided up to end of Feb 2022