Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of retrospectively removing deductions of saved living costs from miscarriage of justice compensation awards made before August 2023.

Individuals who have had their convictions quashed following an out of time appeal are eligible to apply for compensation through the statutory Miscarriages of Justice Application Service. Compensation payments made after 6 August 2023 no longer have saved living expenses deducted. The Government considered the importance of certainty and ensuring the finality of concluded settlements and, in July 2024, decided not to depart from the established principles of public policy under which policy changes apply prospectively only.