§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he intends to take to ensure that the entitlement to benefits of victims is not affected by compensation awards from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
§ Mr. Peter LloydI have been asked to reply.
Payments from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board are treated in exactly the same way as any other payments made in compensation for a personal injury. lf the award is placed on trust it will be fully disregarded if the recipient is a child or young person, or for at least two years if the recipient is an adult. However, any payments made by the trustees will be treated as income or capital in the normal way. There are no proposals for changing these provisions.