Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of its data collection systems in regard to victims.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
There are two main services for victims, the Domestic Abuse Safety Officer Service and the Victim Contact Scheme.
The Probation Service runs the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS) for victims of offenders convicted of serious violent or sexual offences, who are sentenced to twelve months or more imprisonment. It has carried out changes in 2021 to ensure efficacy of its systems in relation to data collection to support the Victims’ Code of Practice.
There is also ongoing work to develop a set of national performance measures which can be used to measure the impact of the scheme and inform future development and decision making.
A change to the referral process in 2021, outlined in the Victims’ Code of Practice, now directs that victim’s contact details are automatically sent to Probation Service Victim Contact Units. These details are then recorded on the Probation Service Victim Contact Management System. This ensures timely offers of the VCS to victims, allowing them the choice of whether or not to engage in the scheme. To ensure the receipt of referrals, Probation staff also run reports from court and probation systems to ensure the receipt of qualifying cases. Figures from the Victim Satisfaction Survey linked to the scheme continues to show positive satisfaction of above 80% from victims who engage in the scheme.
To date, there has been no evaluation of the effectiveness of the Domestic Abuse Safety Officer service. This is a service that is offered to all victims and new partners of people attending Probation Service-run domestic abuse rehabilitation programmes. In July 2023, a national case management database was launched. This is a robust system, which enabled efficient collation, monitoring, and analysis of victim data. There is ongoing work to develop a set of national performance measures which can be used to measure the impact of the scheme and inform future development and decision making.
Furthermore, in September 2023, the new digital service to apply for criminal injuries compensation was made available to 100% of applicants. The number of questions asked as part of applying for compensation was reduced where possible - by 20-30% on some application journeys - compared to the older service we replaced.
This approach was supported by user research and trauma-informed practice, to ensure the data we are collecting is proportionate and required to enable the decision-making process - for example, we removed the mandatory need for victims to describe the nature of the incident as part of the application process, to reduce the risk of re-traumatisation.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in his Department; and what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice’s 24/7 shared press and media team provides a wide-ranging service to ministers, the department and multiple agencies (including HMCTS, HMPPS, Legal Aid Agency, Office of the Public Guardian and Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority). This includes proactive and reactive media handling, monitoring, planning, media training, event support and speechwriting. It is made up of 35 employees with roles ranging from grades HEO to SCS1. The grade salary ranges between £32,827 - £117,800 - this is departmental salary ranges, not actual salaries.
This figure is for the Ministry of Justice central departmental Press Office and Media team only.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme were processed within (a) 12 to 18, (b) 18 to 24 and (c) more than 24 months in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The following table shows the number and proportion of claims where a decision was reached within: (i) 0-12 months; (ii) 12 – 18 months; (iii) 18 – 24 months; and (iv) more than 24 months after the date of application. This information is taken from the latest period for which data is available (year 1 April 2022- 31 March 2023) which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/criminal-injuries-compensation-authority/about/statistics.
Claims processed | Number | Proportion |
Total | 34,723 | - |
0 - 12 Months | 23,456 | 67% |
12 – 18 Months | 3,745 | 11% |
18 – 24 Months | 2,345 | 7% |
More than 24 Months | 5,177 | 15% |
Based on the latest period for which data is available, the average number of days to reach a decision on claims was 391. This information is also for year 1 April 2022-31 March 2023 and can be found at the web address above.
CICA recognises that timely compensation can help victims in their recovery both practically and emotionally. CICA aims to assess claims as quickly as possible and the majority are assessed within 12 months. Each case must be considered on its own merits and determined based on the evidence available to support the application.
CICA continually reviews its operating practices with the aim of improving the rate of claims of assessed. Last year, the volume of claims resolved was 12% higher than in the previous year and CICA provided £173m in compensation to victims of violent crime.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average processing time was for claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The following table shows the number and proportion of claims where a decision was reached within: (i) 0-12 months; (ii) 12 – 18 months; (iii) 18 – 24 months; and (iv) more than 24 months after the date of application. This information is taken from the latest period for which data is available (year 1 April 2022- 31 March 2023) which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/criminal-injuries-compensation-authority/about/statistics.
Claims processed | Number | Proportion |
Total | 34,723 | - |
0 - 12 Months | 23,456 | 67% |
12 – 18 Months | 3,745 | 11% |
18 – 24 Months | 2,345 | 7% |
More than 24 Months | 5,177 | 15% |
Based on the latest period for which data is available, the average number of days to reach a decision on claims was 391. This information is also for year 1 April 2022-31 March 2023 and can be found at the web address above.
CICA recognises that timely compensation can help victims in their recovery both practically and emotionally. CICA aims to assess claims as quickly as possible and the majority are assessed within 12 months. Each case must be considered on its own merits and determined based on the evidence available to support the application.
CICA continually reviews its operating practices with the aim of improving the rate of claims of assessed. Last year, the volume of claims resolved was 12% higher than in the previous year and CICA provided £173m in compensation to victims of violent crime.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of average processing times for claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
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. It provides an important avenue of redress for such victims and is part of the wider package of general and specialist support available to victims of crime.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice, administers the Scheme and reports on its performance in an Annual Report laid in Parliament. This report includes data on the time it takes for decisions under the scheme to be made. While the CICA publishes this data on the length of time it takes to conclude cases, each case is necessarily considered on its own merits and complex cases can take longer to be determined.
We engage regularly with the CICA, including to consider its service levels and how it responds to resource demands. We also work closely with the CICA when considering policy development, and when we consult on potential reforms to the Scheme we consider the implications of any policy changes on the CICA and others in an impact assessment. In addition, the Ministry of Justice reviews the CICA as part of the government’s Public Bodies Review Programme, the most recent of which concluded in February 2023 and concluded that the CICA was in good health.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to extend the time limit for Criminal injuries Compensation Claims for victims of sexual abuse.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
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. As the Scheme is publicly funded, strict eligibility criteria apply.
There are already special arrangements in place for people applying for compensation for an injury sustained in childhood, and in all cases where a claim is made outside of the applicable time limit they can be considered in exceptional circumstances.
We recently held a public consultation on potential reforms to change the length of time people have to submit a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. We asked for views on increasing the time limits for child victims of sexual abuse, as well as other violent crimes, and on increasing them for all applicants. We will make decisions about whether to amend the time limits as soon as possible in 2024 as part of our comprehensive review of the Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Hogan-Howe (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information and data the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority holds about injuries caused by pedal cyclists to pedestrians who have subsequently made a claim to the Authority.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The GB-wide Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (the Scheme) provides state-funded compensation to victims of violent crime who cannot pursue compensation or redress from other routes. The Scheme is administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
Payments are available under the Scheme for physical or psychological injuries resulting directly from a crime of violence, as defined in Annex B of the Scheme. Paragraph 4(1)(b) of Annex B specifies that a crime of violence will not be considered to have been committed if an injury “resulted from the use of a vehicle, unless the vehicle was used with intent to cause injury to a person”. Paragraph 4(2) outlines that a “vehicle” for the purposes of this paragraph means any device which can be used to transport persons, animals or goods, whether by land, water or air. Therefore, any application which relates to an injury caused by a cyclist will only be eligible if the vehicle was used with intent to cause injury to the applicant.
It is possible that CICA holds information which falls within the scope of this request, however it can only be extracted from the CICA’s database through manual search of case records at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his planned timetable is for the publication of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme Review 2020.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
I am grateful to all who took the time to contribute views to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme Review 2020 and the other consultations we ran in 2022 and 2023 as part of our Scheme review.
We are carefully considering the responses received and plan to publish a single response to all three consultations as soon as possible in 2024.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on press and public relations in each financial year since 2019-20.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Like any large operational organisation, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has press and public relation roles to work with the media to ensure the work of the department and its agencies is communicated to the public, as well as ensuring the department is able to attract and recruit sufficient staff to operate critical front line services.
MoJ operates a 24/7, 365-day press office that supports MoJ, HM Prison and Probation Service, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Legal Aid Agency, Office for the Public Guardian and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
In the face of an increasingly challenging recruitment market over recent years, the MoJ has stood up additional, separate PR support to generate applications for critical frontline roles, including prison and probation staff and magistrates, which has led to an increase in PR spend over this period. This has allowed the department to ensure its front line public services remain staffed and operational.
Below is a table showing the Ministry of Justice’s press and PR spend since 2019.
Year | Spend |
2019-2020 | £1,507,000 |
2020-2021 | £1,681,000 |
2021-2022 | £1,965,000 |
2022-2023 | £2,612,000 |
2023-2024 | We are unable to provide figures on unaudited/open accounts. |
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2023 to Question 200418 on Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry, when he plans to update Parliament on progress in implementing the recommendations in the Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, HC 720, published in October 2022.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Government is driving forward work to deliver on the recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse including by committing to introduce a new mandatory reporting duty in the Criminal Justice Bill, passing the Online Safety Act, and consulting on changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
The Home Secretary will provide a full update to Parliament on progress against all of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse early in the new year.