§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure that the victims of violent crime will be given the right to appeal against decisions made under the reformed criminal injuries compensation scheme.
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§ Mr. MacleanApplicants who are dissatisfied with the initial decision of the criminal injuries compensation authority have an unfettered right of appeal. The arrangements for considering appeals are described in paragraphs 32–37 of the White Paper "Compensating Victims of Violent Crime: Changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensating Scheme", Cm. 2434.
Under these arrangements a dissatisfied applicant may request reconsideration of his case by the authority. This will be an internal review of the case conducted by a more senior member of the authority and may result in the original decision being confirmed, overturned or otherwise altered.
An applicant who remains dissatisfied after this review may appeal to an appeals panel. The panel, which is independent of the authority and Ministers, will be able to deal with the appeal on the papers or by offering the appellant an oral hearing at which he may present his case.
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had regarding his plans to reform the criminal injuries compensation scheme.
§ Mr. MacleanSince we announced our intention in November 1992 to introduce a revised criminal injuries compensation scheme we have received representations from a number of hon. Members, either in writing on their own behalf or on behalf of constituents, as well as from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, various organisa tions including representative bodies of the legal profession, victim support local schemes and the national office, the Trade Union Congress, the Police Federation and members of the public.
The representations have covered a range from the underlying principles and rationale of the new scheme to questions about how it will be administered.
The new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1994.
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to provide adequate assessments of post-traumatic stress and sexual abuse for victims of violent crime under the reformed criminal injuries compensation scheme.
§ Mr. MacleanThe Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority which administers the new scheme is responsible, like the board which preceded it, for ensuring that sufficient medical evidence is obtained to enable the applicant's injuries and their after-effects to be correctly assessed.