Compensation for crime victims to be slashed (From Daily Echo)
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Payments of £5m paid out in Hampshire last year
11:11am Sunday 2nd September 2012 in News
COMPENSATION payments to crime victims that reached £5 million in Hampshire last year are set to be slashed from next month.
Payments for minor injuries are set to be scrapped under controversial cost-cutting reforms.
A charity for victims has told the Daily Echo that it wants to see the compensation scheme protected from cuts.
But ministers say the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme has become too expensive and needs to be scaled back to help with the deficit reduction plans. But Labour has said it is putting “deficit reduction before humanity”.
The shake-up has been passed by the House of Lords and is set to come into force on September 30 following final discussions when Parliament returns next week.
New figures from the Commons library show how payouts have increased in the past decade. In 2001/02, just £2 million in compensation was paid out in the Hampshire police force area. Over the decade, the total has passed £37 million.
The compensation scheme processes applications free of charge, with awards ranging from £1,000 to £500,000.
As a result of the changes, people who suffer ‘temporary’ injuries, such as fractured ribsw, will lose out on compensation, while payouts for some more serious injuries will be reduced.
Ministers pointed to another of the changes, which will deny access to the taxpayer-funded scheme for people with a criminal record.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said payouts totalling £75 million had been made to criminals in the past decade.
And it said payouts in the most serious cases would be protected.
An MoJ spokesman said: “We believe the most important thing is for victims of crime to have the support they need to recover and for offenders to take responsibility for the damage they have done. This is why we are generating an extra £50 million from criminals to pay for extra victim support services.”
But the overhaul has been criticised by USDAW, the union that represents shop workers, which says its members often make use of the scheme when they are attacked.
The union said nearly half of all victims currently eligible for compensation will receive nothing, while over a third would see their compensation “severely reduced”.
Paul Fawcett, Victim Support’s Head of Communications and Marketing, said they recognised the need for reform.
He added: “We think the criminal injuries compensation scheme does need reforming to become sustainable and to make sure that victims get their awards more quickly.”
Comments(25)
Of the Ilk
says...
11:59am Sun 2 Sep 12
However, the CICA can take a very long time to make decisions. I know of a case where a nurse was attacked in A&E and suffered injuries and mental health problems making it impossible to return to any work and the CICA have taken 4 years to make an sort of offer of compensation. The attacker walked away unpunished - the victim will suffer for the rest of her life.
Linesman
says...
12:59pm Sun 2 Sep 12
If they stood by their election promise then the guilty party would be given a harsher punishments, that would include steeper fines.
The total of fines should fund the compensation payments.
100%HANTSBOY
says...
1:14pm Sun 2 Sep 12
freefinker
says...
1:18pm Sun 2 Sep 12
100%HANTSBOY wrote:.. don't think the Echo like what we have been saying. About the Echo, that is.
Wow what happened to the comments about the Councillors wife? They were there a minute ago?
100%HANTSBOY
says...
1:22pm Sun 2 Sep 12
freefinker wrote:I thought,for once,it was quite a well balanced discussion!
100%HANTSBOY wrote:.. don't think the Echo like what we have been saying. About the Echo, that is.
Wow what happened to the comments about the Councillors wife? They were there a minute ago?
After all.it could of been so easy for posters to just slate the woman,but they didn't.
The Echo have hit a nerve here with the privacy issue,and are now trying to sensor us!
What happened to free speach,oh,I can see the irony now!...very clever!
waltons11
says...
1:24pm Sun 2 Sep 12
Ginger_cyclist
says...
1:35pm Sun 2 Sep 12
waltons11 wrote:Sounds about right, possibly why they opened the comments for a few hours and then closed them, The Echo seems to open and close comments when the hell it suits them, normally closing them when people start picking up on their short falls and stuff, like their inability to keep personal info to themselves and that they probably hack many phones in the Hampshire area.
Perhaps they have taken it down to compille the names of all of us who commented so that they can print the list !!!
100%HANTSBOY
says...
1:42pm Sun 2 Sep 12
Ginger_cyclist wrote:Not totally true,most opening posts on stories on this forum are picking up on basic errors made by the journos.....spelling
waltons11 wrote:Sounds about right, possibly why they opened the comments for a few hours and then closed them, The Echo seems to open and close comments when the hell it suits them, normally closing them when people start picking up on their short falls and stuff, like their inability to keep personal info to themselves and that they probably hack many phones in the Hampshire area.
Perhaps they have taken it down to compille the names of all of us who commented so that they can print the list !!!
,grammar,geographica
l errors etc
Lone Ranger.
says...
1:58pm Sun 2 Sep 12
waltons11 wrote:Yes it is vey disappointing.
Perhaps they have taken it down to compille the names of all of us who commented so that they can print the list !!!
.
They are quite happy to dish the dirt when it suits and then become spineless when its chucked back at them.
.
Pehhaps it upset Editor Murrays Sunday lunch ..... We can only hope
100%HANTSBOY
says...
2:24pm Sun 2 Sep 12
Lone Ranger. wrote:The comments on the Woolston parking story have also been pulled!
waltons11 wrote:Yes it is vey disappointing.
Perhaps they have taken it down to compille the names of all of us who commented so that they can print the list !!!
.
They are quite happy to dish the dirt when it suits and then become spineless when its chucked back at them.
.
Pehhaps it upset Editor Murrays Sunday lunch ..... We can only hope
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING !!!!
BillyTheKid
says...
2:29pm Sun 2 Sep 12
Georgem
says...
3:26pm Sun 2 Sep 12
100%HANTSBOY wrote:Yep, shaky ground for the Echo I think. Nothing to do with free speech, though. They aren't stopping you expressing yourself, they're just not providing you the platform to. Big difference.
freefinker wrote:I thought,for once,it was quite a well balanced discussion!
100%HANTSBOY wrote:.. don't think the Echo like what we have been saying. About the Echo, that is.
Wow what happened to the comments about the Councillors wife? They were there a minute ago?
After all.it could of been so easy for posters to just slate the woman,but they didn't.
The Echo have hit a nerve here with the privacy issue,and are now trying to sensor us!
What happened to free speach,oh,I can see the irony now!...very clever!
Perhaps it's time all commenters took steps to ensure their complete, untraceable anonymity on the Echo boards.
Higginz
says...
3:27pm Sun 2 Sep 12
ohec
says...
4:18pm Sun 2 Sep 12
Of the Ilk
says...
4:28pm Sun 2 Sep 12
S023
says...
5:03pm Sun 2 Sep 12
Saintlygirl
says...
5:04pm Sun 2 Sep 12
beiroot
says...
5:25pm Sun 2 Sep 12
Of the Ilk
says...
5:58pm Sun 2 Sep 12
beiroot wrote:Here come the xenopobes!
Wonder how much could be saved by not supplying interpreter sevices for British Citizins.
Of the Ilk
says...
6:02pm Sun 2 Sep 12
bigal007
says...
7:07pm Sun 2 Sep 12
Of the Ilk wrote:the law is a ****
I suspect some people see the scheme as a good way to make some money after a very minor assault and there have been some rather silly amounts of compensation for very minor crime victims.
However, the CICA can take a very long time to make decisions. I know of a case where a nurse was attacked in A&E and suffered injuries and mental health problems making it impossible to return to any work and the CICA have taken 4 years to make an sort of offer of compensation. The attacker walked away unpunished - the victim will suffer for the rest of her life.
mr.southampton
says...
8:37pm Sun 2 Sep 12
S023 wrote:Second that.
The Echo are cowards
Ginger_cyclist
says...
1:06am Mon 3 Sep 12
100%HANTSBOY wrote:Like on the one about the horse slashings, they spelled "veterinary" wrong, they spelled it "vet inary".
Ginger_cyclist wrote:Not totally true,most opening posts on stories on this forum are picking up on basic errors made by the journos.....spelling
waltons11 wrote:Sounds about right, possibly why they opened the comments for a few hours and then closed them, The Echo seems to open and close comments when the hell it suits them, normally closing them when people start picking up on their short falls and stuff, like their inability to keep personal info to themselves and that they probably hack many phones in the Hampshire area.
Perhaps they have taken it down to compille the names of all of us who commented so that they can print the list !!!
,grammar,geographica
l errors etc
ToastyTea
says...
12:53pm Mon 3 Sep 12
mr.southampton wrote:+1
S023 wrote: The Echo are cowardsSecond that.
dragonlady12 says...
11:48am Sun 2 Sep 12