Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people that would be eligible to make new Criminal Injuries Claims if the general two-year time limitation for was extended to (a) three, (b) four, (c) five and (d) over five years.

The Government is committed to ensuring every victim gets the compensation to which they are entitled, which is part of the wider package of general and specialist support available to victims of crime. The government-funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the Scheme) exists to compensate for serious physical or psychological injury attributable to being a direct victim of a crime of violence.

Under the 2012 Scheme there is a general time limit of two years from the date of the incident giving rise to an injury to apply for compensation under the Scheme. In the 2012 Scheme we introduced separate provisions for applicants who were aged under 18 years at the time they sustained the injury that is the subject of their claim. In these circumstances, if the incident was reported to the police before the applicant reached 18, an application must be made before their 20th birthday. If the incident was reported after their 18th birthday, an application must be made within two years of the date it was first reported. Additionally, the claims officer must be able to determine the case on the evidence provided without further extensive enquiries. In all cases where a claim is made outside of the applicable time limit they can be considered in exceptional circumstances and where claims officers can determine the case on the evidence provided without further extensive enquiries.

Our recent review of whether the Scheme could be simpler and more accessible for victims of violent crime, considered how the time limits are working. Our 2020 consultation set out our findings that the current rules appeared to allow sufficient opportunity for the majority of victims to make a claim for compensation. The consultation included analysis of a three-year caseload data set which showed that the proportion of claims refused on the grounds of being “out of time” was small compared to refusals on other grounds, and that the exceptional circumstances discretion was working well. 18% of personal injury cases were submitted outside the two-year time limit, and of these 63% went on to receive an award. Data demonstrated that of all rejected personal injury cases, only 4% (approximately 1,700 cases over the three year period) were rejected for being outside the two-year time limit.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (the Inquiry) published its final report on 20 October 2022. We are considering carefully one of the concluding recommendations to extend the time limit for victims of child sexual abuse to seven years.

Our conclusion to the Scheme review and response to the Inquiry’s report will be shared in due course.