HC Deb 20 May 1991 vol 191 c350W
Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases are currently awaiting consideration under the criminal injuries compensation scheme in England and Wales and in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten

At the end of April 1991, 59,919 applications were awaiting decision by a board member, 11,560 cases were out on offer to applicants and 10,690 cases were awaiting an oral hearing by the board. Figures for cases in progress are not available separately for England and Wales and for Scotland.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to implement sections 108 to 117 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988; and what he estimates the timetable of that implementation will be.

Mr. John Patten

Sections 108 to 117 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 provide a statutory basis for the present ex-gratia criminal injuries compensation scheme. No date has been set for implementation, which has been deferred for the time being at the request of the board to allow it to concentrate on dealing with the present backlog of cases, which is being reduced. The then Home Secretary set out more fully the reasons for this decision, together with certain changes in the non-statutory scheme, to bring it more closely into line with the provisions of the 1988 Act, in a written answer on 8 December 1989 at columns409–17 to my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler).

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claimants under the criminal injuries compensation scheme have their awards paid directly to a trust or sequestrator; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten

The board does not keep totals of such cases, but I understand that they are rare.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made to implement the recommendations of the Home Affairs Select Committee to appoint additional staff to the Glasgow office; what progress has been made in clearing the backlog of claims under the criminal injuries compensation scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten

We agreed immediately to all the 60 extra staff recommended in the report of the Select Committee (HC 92) in February 1990 and they have been in post in the Glasgow office since last summer. As a result of this and other measures described in the Government reply to the report (Cm. 1153), the number of cases outstanding has been reduced by about 8,000 over the last year to 82,000.