Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average processing time for the Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme was in each of the last five years.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is responsible for implementing the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. CICA recognises that timely compensation can help victims in their recovery both practically and emotionally and is committed to deciding 40% of new applications within 6 months of receiving the application, and 70% within 12 months. CICA performance information is available in the CICA Annual Report and Accounts; the latest version can be found at CICA Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24.

The following table shows the average number of days from an application being received until a decision is made. This information is taken from the latest period for which data is available which can be found here: Statistics at CICA - Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).