§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to decide whether compensation will be paid under the terms of section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to(a) Nicholas Mullen and (b) Gilbert Thomas Patrick McNamee. [90071]
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average time between receipt of applications for compensation for miscarriages of justice under the terms of section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and a decision by the Secretary of State as to whether compensation would be paid for each year from 1991 to date. [90072]
§ Mr. StrawAll applications for compensation for wrongful conviction are considered first under the provisions of section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and then, if those requirements are not met, under the ex-gratia arrangements announced by the then Home Secretary in his reply to the then hon. Member for Beaconsfield, 29 November 1985,Official Report, columns 689–90, by which I have agreed to be bound.
The readily available information requested relates only to successful applications. The average time taken from the date of application to a decision to pay compensation under the statutory or ex-gratia arrangements, for applications decided in 1991–98, was as follows:
Year Days 1991 153 1992 75 1993 100 1994 122 1994 122 1995 276 1996 309 1997 205 1998 37