Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many compensation orders were issued for each offence type by (a) magistrate's courts and (b) crown courts in each of the last five years.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on the number and amount of compensation orders issued in courts on a principal and all-disposal basis, by offence type, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2022.

This information, split by court type, is available in the Magistrates' court data tool: 2021 and the Crown Court data tool: 2021. This information for the calendar year of 2022 is due for publication in May.

Please see the accompanying tables for:

• Total value of compensation orders issued;
• The number of defendants issued with a compensation order, by principal sentence outcome and by offence group;
• The 20 largest compensation orders issued in each of the last 5 years, and the offence this was given as a sentence outcome for; and
• Minimum and maximum value of compensation orders issued, by court type.

Compensation is presented in these tables on an all-disposal basis; this is where compensation is recorded in the four most severe disposals. Data in these tables relate to the years ending June 2018 to June 2022 in England and Wales.

Figures on total compensation and amount paid, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, are held on HMCTS data systems and presented in Table A2 in Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly: June 2022 publication. These will differ from the court outcomes figures, which record where the compensation was in the four most serious sentences delivered by the court for the defendant.

Figures on the amount of compensation orders issued is published in the HMCTS trust statements for 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021-22.

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. Courts are required to strike a balance between seeking reparation and not imposing debts that are unrealistic or unenforceable.