§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many compensation payments were made to members of the public by his Department and its agencies in each year since 1997–98, broken down by the(a) amount paid and (b) reason for payment. [172895]
§ Ruth KellyCompensation payments made to members of the public by the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Departments and agencies are made in a wide variety of circumstances, including
costs following Tribunal/Court rulings and those arising from Adjudicator and Ombudsman reviews;property damage;compensation paid by HM Customs and Excise, VAT, tax regimes;compensation paid to meet out of pocket expenses, inconvenience or hardship caused by officials failure or delay.Losses and special payments are required to be published in Departmental Annual Accounts in accordance with the Resource Accounting Manual.