§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list on an annual basis the number of claims rejected by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board on Merseyside and which were later accepted by appeal tribunals;
(2) how many cases of death have been considered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board; and how many accepted;
(3) what is the number of claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board on Merseyside and Liverpool, respectively, on an annual basis; how many claims have been settled; how many are outstanding; and what is the longest outstanding claim;
(4) what is the highest amount awarded by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board on Merseyside and Liverpool, respectively, at the latest date.
§ Mr. MayhewThis information is not readily available and could he obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if there are any plans to widen the scope of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board;
14W(2) if he was satisfied with the working of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board; and if he will make a statement;
(3) if he will introduce legislation to give statutory powers to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
§ Mr. MayhewMy right hon. Friend announced on 23 July 1979 the terms of the revised criminal injuries compensation scheme now in force, and confirmed the Government's acceptance of the recommendation of the Royal Commission of civil liability and compensation for Personal Injury that the scheme should be made statutory.
My right hon. Friend is in general satisfied with the operation of the scheme, but sees advantage in our gaining longer experience of its working before it is embodied in legislation. He has no plans at present to widen its scope.—[Vol. 971, c. 17–25.]
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if consideration will be given to including hit and run and joyriding cases within the scope of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
§ Mr. MayhewWhere compensation is not available through motor insurance or the agreements between the Department of Transport and the motor insurers' bureau, the board may consider an application arising from a traffic offence. A fuller statement on this question is contained in paragraphs 19 and 20 of the board's sixteenth report (Cmnd 8081).
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list on an annual basis the number of claims rejected by the Criminal Injuries Compensation board, which were later accepted by appeal tribunals.
§ Mr. MayhewI take it that the hon. Member means cases in which the application was rejected by a single member but an award was later made by three members of the board. The information for 1979–80 is contained in Appendix C of the board's sixteenth report (Cmnd. 8081) and for previous years in the corresponding table in the board's earlier reports.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases have been dealt with by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, on an annual basis, to the latest available date in England and Wales; and what is the highest amount awarded.
§ Mr. MayhewThe highest award made to date amounted to £129,700. The other information requested is contained in appendix A of the board's 16th report (Cmnd 8081).
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claims are outstanding with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board at the latest date; and what is the longest outstanding claim.
§ Mr. MayhewThe number of unresolved cases on 31 May 1981 was 24,633. Of these, 1,841 were awaiting the applicant's response to a board member's decision, 2,181 were awaiting a hearing before three members of the board and the remaining 20,611 were at various stages of investigation. The last figure includes about 3,500 cases where interim payments of compensation had been made.
The oldest unresolved case dates from 1968: regular interim awards have been made, but the applicant's medical condition has not yet stabilised sufficiently for a final award to be made.
15W
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost, on an annual basis, of the running of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board since its introduction.
§ Mr. MayhewAnnual figures of expenditure on compensation are listed in appendix A of the board's sixteenth report (Cmnd. 8081). Figures for administrative expenditure in 1979–80, 1978–79 and 1977–78 are given in paragraph 13 of that report and for previous years in the corresponding paragraphs of earlier reports.