HC Deb 23 May 1995 vol 260 cc541-3W
Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the average award for rape plus a serious injury given under the criminal injuries compensation scheme under the tariff scheme operating from April 1994; [24887]

(2) if he will list for each of the last five years the number of claimants for criminal injuries compensation who were incapacitated for more than 28 weeks and the percentage they represented of (a) the total number and (b) the total cost of claimants in each year; [24889]

(3) what was the number of awards and total value of awards made (a) in respect of rape and (b) in respect of rape plus a serious injury in each of the last six financial years. [24888]

Mr. Maclean

[holding answer 18 May 1995]: This information is not recorded centrally.

Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the criteria he intends to use in reviewing the criminal injuries compensation tariff once it is in place; [24891]

(2) if it is his policy that the tariff published with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Bill should be uprated to allow for inflation; and if it is his policy to ensure that the tariff rates are subsequently uprated each year; [24896]

(3) if it is his policy that the tariff published with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Bill should be implemented as it stands. [24895]

Mr. Maclean

[holding answer 18 May 1995]: It is the intention that the tariff which was published on 11 May should be the one which is used when the enhanced tariff scheme starts.

The injury descriptions in the tariff will be monitored on a continuing basis, and can be adjusted as necessary with the consent of Parliament. It is intended that the tariff levels will be reviewed every three years. No criteria for such reviews have yet been set, but might be expected to include reference to inflation more generally and other pressures on public expenditure.

Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make it his policy that the time limit for applications under the criminal justice compensation tariff should be not less than three years; [24899]

(2) what will be the time limit for applications under the recently announced tariff scheme for criminal injury compensation. [24898]

Mr. Maclean

[holding answer 18 May 1995]: The intention is to set the time limit at two years. Police and other records are often weeded at about three years and this can make it more difficult to obtain documentary evidence to substantiate claims. However, there will continue to be discretion for the scheme administrators to waive the time limit in exceptional cases.

Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will define the terms dependency/loss of support payments used in note 4 to his paper on the proposed tariff scheme published with the Criminal Injury Compensation Bill, together with the circumstances in which they are relevant and the means by which this relevance would be assessed in a specific case. [24890]

Mr. Maclean

[holding answer 18 May 1995]: Payments for dependency and loss of support will be made to those relations who are able to show that they were financially dependent on the deceased at or before his or her death, or a probability that the deceased would have provided some sort of financial support in the future had he or she lived. They will be calculated by reference to the deceased's contribution to the household budget and the probable length of the dependency.