§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much the state has paid each year in compensation under the terms of each charter since their inception; how many claims for compensation have been made; and how many have resulted in a payment being made. [27560]
§ Mr. HoramInformation concerning compensation paid under the terms of each charter is not held centrally. However, Departments have provided the following figures:
Table 1: Passenger's Charter £000 Year Season ticket discounts Compensation Total 1992–93 85 1,850 1,900 1993–94 2,400 2,300 4,700 1994–95 200 3,300 3,500 No figure is available for the number of claims.
Season ticket discounts are made where train operating units have failed to meet its punctuality and reliability targets over a given period of time. Compensation is given as a result of claims concerning single journeys.
Table 2: London Underground Customer's Charter Year Claims made Compensation paid £000 August 1992 to March 1993 23,763 56 1993–94 142,071 329 1994–95 252,692 553 594W
Table 3: Taxpayer's Charter Year Claims Amount paid £ 1991–92 286 339 1992–93 743 389 1993–94 800 418 1994–95 1,107 407 Inland Revenue does not centrally collect statistics on the total number of claims made; the figures given are for claims which resulted in payment. The Inland Revenue also gives other forms of financial redress for its mistakes or delays in handling taxpayers' affairs, by, for example deciding not to collect tax or interest which would otherwise be properly due under tax law.
Table 4: Northern Ireland Rail Passenger's Charter Year Number of claims Amount paid £000 1 January 1993-31 December 1993 291 1.5 1 January 1994-31 December 1994 728 2.0 1 January 1995-31 March 1995 418 1.4 Totals 1,437 4.8
Table 5: Northern Ireland Bus Passenger's Charter Year of charter Number of incidents Amount £000 Complimentary ticket value £000 1 April 1992-31 March 1993 320 0.3 0.3 1 April 1993-31 March 1994 340 0.5 0.4 1 April 1994-1 March 1995 432 0.6 0.5 1 April 1995-9 June 1995 77 0.3 0.3 Totals 1,169 1.7 1.5
Table 6: The Traveller's Charter Year Number of cases Compensation paid £000 January 1992-March 1992 37 2.7 April 1992-March 1993 86 6.4 April 1993-March 1994 96 11.4 April 1994-March 1995 91 5.1 April 1995-May 1995 15 1.0 In addition, Departments have a number of arrangements for paying compensation which are not directly linked to charters. These include the Department of Social Security's special payments arrangements set up in 1977. Figures are not yet available for 1994–95. However, in 1993–94, the Benefits Agency paid £3,143,491 in 7,631 compensation cases under these arrangements; the Contributions Agency paid out a total of £5,644 for seven cases.