Compensating victims of violent crime

Transcription

1 Compesatig victims of violet crime REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL HC 100 Sessio ; SE/2007/ December 2007

2 The Natioal Audit Office scrutiises public spedig o behalf of Parliamet. The Comptroller ad Auditor Geeral, Sir Joh Bour, is a Officer of the House of Commos. He is the head of the Natioal Audit Office, which employs some 850 staff. He, ad the Natioal Audit Office, are totally idepedet of Govermet. He certifies the accouts of all Govermet departmets ad a wide rage of other public sector bodies; ad he has statutory authority to report to Parliamet o the ecoomy, efficiecy ad effectiveess with which departmets ad other bodies have used their resources. Our work saves the taxpayer millios of pouds every year. At least 8 for every 1 spet ruig the Office.

3 Compesatig victims of violet crime LONDON: The Statioery Office Ordered by the House of Commos to be prited o 12 December 2007 REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL HC 100 Sessio ; SE/2007/ December 2007

4 CONTENTS This report has bee prepared uder Sectio 6 of the Natioal Audit Act 1983 for presetatio to the House of Commos i accordace with Sectio 9 of the Act; ad preseted to the Scottish Parliamet i accordace with Sectio 88 of the Scotlad Act Joh Bour Comptroller ad Auditor Geeral Natioal Audit Office 11 December 2007 The Natioal Audit Office study team cosisted of: Joe Aderso, Sea Clayto, Nicola Coy, Ceria Davies, Graham Hill, Joh Hopkis, Paul Kellaway, Aabel Kiddle, Clare Rapkis, Khila Shah, Rebecca Webb ad Elizabeth Weller, uder the directio of Jaice Lawler ad Ailee Murphie. This report ca be foud o the Natioal Audit Office web site at For further iformatio about the Natioal Audit Office please cotact: Natioal Audit Office Press Office Buckigham Palace Road Victoria Lodo SW1W 9SP Tel: equiries@ao.gsi.gov.uk Natioal Audit Office 2007 SuMMArY 4 PArT OE The Crimial Ijuries Compesatio 8 Scheme compesates victims of violet crime The Govermet aims to put the eeds of victims 8 at the heart of the crimial justice system The value of awards is determied by a 9 tariff system The Authority ad the Pael use a rage of 11 evidece to decide a award Our previous examiatio showed scope 12 for improvemet The Authority has iitiated a major 12 reform programme What we examied 12 PArT TWO The Authority ad the Pael should do 14 more to support victims from icidet to fial decisio The Authority ad the Pael could have doe 14 more to support victims The Authority ad the Pael are takig steps 18 to improve the support to victims Other chages would further improve 19 the support for victims

5 Part THREE Applicats are waitig loger for a 20 decisio o their case Average processig times have icreased sice 20 we last reported, creatig a build-up of uresolved cases at the Authority Chages i the Authority s approach betwee ad 2006 cotributed to legtheig case processig times The average uit cost per case has icreased 23 sice our previous report Neither the Authority or the Pael have 25 performed well agaist their targets The Authority ad the Pael have made chages 25 to their targets More appropriate targets would help 27 improve performace The Authority s processes for cosiderig claims 27 sice we last reported have bee repetitive ad iefficiet The Authority has bee slow at chasig resposes 29 from third parties Better explaatios of the Authority s decisios 32 have led to fewer cases goig to review ad appeal The Authority was able to get the iformatio 32 it eeded more quickly to process Lodo bombigs cases Part four The Authority ad the Pael are workig 33 to icrease efficiecy but there is scope for further improvemet The ew iterim maagemet team at the 33 Authority iitiated a major reform programme The Authority has bee workig with the police 36 to reduce respose times The Pael has also bee workig to improve 36 its performace Other factors eed to be cosidered as part 36 of the Authority s chage programme The recet relocatio to Glasgow should 38 make the Authority more efficiet, but it could have made greater savigs by movig earlier The Authority ad the Pael should work more 39 closely to improve their efficiecy Appedices 1 Progress agaist recommedatios of 40 the Committee of Public Accouts 2 Our audit approach 48 3 Authority cases ivestigated ad upheld 52 by the Ombudsma 4 The Authority s key aims ad targets 53 for The curret casework process 54 6 The proposed casework process beig 55 piloted by the Authority

6 SuMMARy 1 The Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Scheme provides compesatio to victims of violet crime. I , the Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Authority (the Authority), which covers Eglad, Scotlad ad Wales, received 61,000 applicatios ad paid some 192 millio to victims. 1 Awards are determied by a tariff, with fixed compesatio for each type of ijury. Dissatisfied applicats ca apply to the Authority for a review of their case ad, if they remai dissatisfied, ca appeal to the Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Appeals Pael (the Pael), which received 2,136 appeals i I , the Authority s admiistrative costs were 23.6 millio, ad the Pael s 4.9 millio. 2 This report cosiders whether the Authority ad the Pael provide a more cost effective ad better quality of service to victims of violet crime tha they did whe the Natioal Audit Office ad the Public Accouts Committee last reported o this subject i It also cosiders whether there is scope for further improvemet millio relatig to applicatios uder the curret scheme ad 19 millio relatig to applicatios uder the previous scheme, which closed for ew applicatios o 31 March Compesatig Victims of Violet Crime, HC 398, Parliametary Sessio , April 2000 ad Committee of Public Accouts 30th report of , Compesatig Victims of Violet Crime, HC 472, August COMPENSATING victims OF violent CRIME

7 summary Overall coclusio 3 The Govermet aims to put the eeds of victims at the heart of the crimial justice system, ad oe elemet of that is the provisio of fiacial compesatio to victims of violet crime. The Authority s performace has declied sice our report i 2000 ad either the Authority or the Pael have cosistetly met their targets over the years. The tariff scheme was itroduced i 1996 to stop costs risig at a rate that was o loger sustaiable, speed up the processig of applicatios ad provide a better service to applicats by makig the scheme simpler to admiister ad easier to uderstad. However, the average time to resolve a tariff case icreased by over 40 per cet, from 364 days i to 515 days i I the same period, the umber of applicatios fell by 23 per cet ad the caseload has become more complex. There were 81,600 uresolved cases at the Authority ad 2,400 at the Pael by October The Miistry of Justice, the Authority ad the Pael have met oly some of the recommedatios that the Committee of Public Accouts made i August 2000 but have recetly begu to make chages aimed at improvig performace. 4 I August 2006 the Home Office 3 appoited a ew iterim Chief Executive for the Authority ad, sice the, the Authority has iitiated a major reform programme ad has bee workig to provide a faster, fairer, better service to applicats. 4 It has diagosed problems with curret ways of workig ad cosulted staff to address the issues. It is pilotig a ew caseworkig process o 20 per cet of its caseload ad developig formal performace maagemet systems. Early sigs are ecouragig ad the chages are already brigig improvemets. Goig forward, the Authority eeds to moitor the effects of chages closely, work more closely with the Pael ad third parties ad improve performace maagemet, if it is to sustai a higher level of performace across its whole caseload ad provide better value for moey. 5 Our key fidigs are as follows: O improvig the service to victims The Authority Victims charities cosidered that applicatio forms, leaflets ad posters eed to be much more widely available i GP surgeries, police statios ad Citizes Advice Bureaux. Some groups of eligible victims are less likely to apply. Our aalysis showed that ijured victims who are female, white, employed or live i the South East are less likely to apply compared with all ijured victims of violet crime. Some groups of applicats are less likely to obtai a award. Applicatios from victims who are o white, aged or uemployed are least likely to be eligible. At the time of our audit, the Authority did ot have oe cetral, advertised helplie umber ad its call cetre could ot deal with all queries. As part of its curret reforms, the Authority plas to have a sigle i-house helplie from March The Authority s website is useful but eeds better sigpostig betwee the various screes ad to be more distiguishable from solicitors websites. The applicatio form (curretly uder revisio) is log ad some fid it difficult to complete. Aroud half of applicatios are usuccessful, the same as whe we last reported, despite work to reduce ieligible claims. The Authority has itroduced some fast iitial screeig to idetify ad reject the most obviously ieligible applicatios whe they are etered oto the system. A greater umber of ieligible applicatios could be idetified ad rejected at this stage, however, for example by idetifyig claims where the ijuries fall below the threshold for compesatio. The Authority has improved the explaatios of its decisios to applicats, which has helped reduce the umbers of cases goig to review ad appeal. Some explaatios could be improved further, for example, by givig reasos why awards are offered for oly some ijuries. I additio, the Authority s stadard letters for il awards state that the Authority has cosidered medical ad police reports i reachig decisios but it does ot always obtai medical reports. These letters are therefore misleadig to applicats o the evidece cosidered i reachig the decisio. Uder the ew process that the Authority is pilotig, decisio makers have bee istructed to explai why a award is beig made for oly part of the claim. The quality assurace process will test if this is happeig. Testig is uderway but has ot bee i place for sufficiet time to provide evidece that the ew process successfully addresses the issue. 3 Sposorship of the Authority moved from the Home Office to the Miistry of Justice i May The Authority s visio. Compesatig victims of violet crime 5

8 summary The Pael Pael hearigs are iquisitorial but relatively iformal. May appellats do ot kow what to expect at the appeal hearig, for example over a quarter of appellats do ot kow how formal the hearig will be. The reductio i the umber of cases resolved each year, from 74,900 i to 59,100 i , ad a icrease i the Authority s aual admiistratio costs sice of 4.2 millio (22 per cet) after allowig for iflatio have led to a icrease of 54 per cet i the average uit cost of processig a case to 400 i O improvig the efficiecy of case processig ad maagig the caseload The Authority The Authority s curret processes, which cotiue to apply to 80 per cet of cases, are bureaucratic ad repetitive, i part because caseworkers ad decisio makers do ot agree at the start what iformatio is eeded to reach a decisio ad they commuicate via writte documets. The Authority depeds o iformatio from third parties that it requests i writig ad is ot always provided i good time, but which it does ot chase regularly ad cosistetly. The Authority is pilotig a ew approach to caseworkig as part of its reform programme desiged to streamlie decisio makig. Betwee our last report ad 2006, the Authority made chages to its policy ad approach without always cosiderig the impact o the efficiecy of its processig. Sice 2006, the Authority has bee workig to speed up the processig of cases ad reduce admiistratio costs through its pilot. The ew process should improve the cosistecy of decisio makig through greater discussio of idividual cases ad icreased quality assurace. But the Authority still eeds to cosider how to speed up the provisio of medical reports ad the pilot does ot tackle the lack of feedback to case strategy, preparatio ad decisio teams whe decisios are chaged at review or appeal. The Authority collects a wealth of data o applicats icludig age, geder, ethicity, address, crimial covictios, medical records ad the ature of the icidet ad ijury; ad o the ature of cases icludig stage of completio, award amouts offered ad acceptace of awards. It does ot, however, make full use of this data to extract the most useful maagemet iformatio ad to develop a model of the characteristics ad success rates of applicats. The Pael The Pael schedules appeals hearigs eight weeks i advace of the hearig date oce the Authority has cofirmed it has collected all the iformatio it eeds. The Authority also provides estimates of the time required for each idividual hearig. Estimates ca sometimes be iaccurate, makig it difficult for the Pael to pla its hearig schedule, ad hearigs ca overru the time allowed so appellats are kept waitig. The Pael ad the Authority have begu to share iformatio o the legth of time hearigs take i order to improve time estimates. Recommedatios O improvig the service to victims a b c d The Authority should, periodically, compare the characteristics of successful ad usuccessful applicats with those of victims of violet crime that receive a ijury above the Authority s threshold for compesatio, to determie whether applicats are represetative. It should determie the reasos for differeces, for example by closer workig with victims charities ivolved with uder-represeted groups, ad improve ad focus its iformatio, guidace ad advice to maage ay disparities. The Miistry of Justice should work more closely with the Authority, the Scottish Govermet, police forces ad victims charities to make more victims of violet crime that are ijured aware of the scheme ad provide them with clear iformatio o the likely success of a applicatio. Whe the Authority brigs its helplie i-house, it should have a sigle, well-advertised helplie umber ad the Authority should ecourage more olie applicatios. The Authority should provide guidace that idetifies what iformatio is essetial i order to improve the quality ad completeess of applicatios ad reduce ieligible claims. Such iformatio should separately target victims of violet crime; the first poits of cotact for victims, primarily the police, accidet ad emergecy staff ad Citizes Advice Bureaux; ad victims represetatives. 6 Compesatig victims of violet crime

9 summary e f The Authority should explai its decisios much more clearly to applicats icludig i cases where a award is made for oly part of the claim. The Authority should evaluate the results of its pilot process to provide better explaatios of award decisios, to determie if the revised approach addresses the issue successfully. It should also amed its stadard letters to explai correctly what evidece it has used i reachig its decisios. It should regularly update all applicats o progress, rather tha oly those covered by its casework pilot. Followig the Tribuals Service s plaed review of iformatio for appellats, the Pael should provide appellats with more iformatio about what to expect from the appeal hearig, ideally prior to applicats appealig agaist the review decisio. It could, for example, provide aoymised films of typical hearigs o its website ad, o request, by post, with web ad postal addresses provided o the appeal request form. O improvig the efficiecy of case processig ad maagig the caseload g h I order to get more decisios right first time ad close dow ew cases quickly, experieced staff at the Authority should cosider each applicatio o receipt. This would allow the Authority to idetify obviously ieligible applicatios early, for example where the ijury claimed for is below the miimum tariff bad; ad to idetify the iformatio required to decide eligibility. The Authority s curret reforms ivolve a earlier assessmet of cases. To obtai the iformatio ecessary to decide a case more quickly, the Authority should develop closer workig relatios with police forces ad medical professioals; egotiate clear timetables for the provisio of iformatio; ad request ad obtai iformatio i the most effective format rather tha i writig, as it does i most cases. It should also systematically ad regularly chase all resposes as they become due. The Authority s curret reforms aim to address these issues. i j k l m The Authority should agree respose targets with the represetative bodies of all third parties that regularly provide iformatio to decide claims, moitor respose times agaist them ad share the iformatio. Curretly targets are agreed oly with the police i Eglad ad Wales but the Authority should also agree targets or timigs with the Associatio of Chief Police Officers i Scotlad, health sector bodies icludig the Departmet of Health, Primary Care Trusts, Scottish Health Boards, Local Health Boards i Wales, the British Medical Associatio ad the Royal College of GPs, ad the Departmet for Work ad Pesios. I Scotlad ad Wales the Authority should ivolve the Scottish Govermet ad Welsh Assembly Govermet i the agreemet of targets. Police forces i Eglad ad Wales should actively moitor their performace agaist the targets i the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime for respodig to requests from the Authority ad the Pael, ad take actio to improve respose times where these are ot met. Forces i Scotlad should adopt similar timescales for respodig to requests. To drive up their performace, the Authority ad the Pael should develop more focused ad challegig targets for reducig the time ad cost of hadlig cases, icludig joit targets for the umber of cases resolved at appeal; for the Authority to reduce the umber of cases outstadig; ad for the Pael to improve efficiecy. To improve the quality ad cosistecy of decisio makig, i cases where decisios are chaged at review ad appeal the Authority s review team ad Presetig Officers should feed back the reasos for the chages to caseworkers ad decisio makers. The Authority ad the Pael should build o their work to improve time estimates for appeal hearigs by workig together o improvig all aspects of the listig process, with a view to listig cases more quickly ad reliably. Compesatig victims of violet crime 7

10 Part Oe The Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Scheme compesates victims of violet crime 1.1 The Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Scheme provides compesatio to victims of violet crime. The Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Authority (the Authority), a No-Departmetal Public Body sposored by the Miistry of Justice 5, admiisters the scheme i Eglad, Scotlad ad Wales. The Authority has paid out more tha 3.5 billio to over oe millio successful claimats sice the scheme bega i I , it received aroud 61,000 applicatios ad paid out 192 millio to 31,500 victims. Applicats dissatisfied with the Authority s decisios ca apply to the Authority for a review of their case. If they are dissatisfied with the review, they ca appeal to the Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Appeals Pael (the Pael) which, sice April 2006, has bee part of the Tribuals Service, a Executive Agecy of the Miistry of Justice. 6 The Pael received 2,136 appeal requests i The Scottish Govermet pays the Miistry of Justice a cotributio towards the admiistrative costs of the Authority ad the Pael, ad compesatio costs uder the scheme. 7 The cotributio has bee 11 per cet of the total admiistrative ad compesatio expediture for the past two years. 8 The Govermet aims to put the eeds of victims at the heart of the crimial justice system 1.3 The Govermet remais firmly committed to rebalacig the crimial justice system i favour of victims ad witesses. 9 It has itroduced reforms, icludig a victims surcharge that requires offeders to cotribute towards a fud for victims; give a chace for the voice of victims to be heard through the court process, for example through victim persoal statemets, ad i Govermet through a Victims Advisory Pael; established witess care uits to provide tailored support durig trials; itroduced a code of practice to give victims statutory rights for the first time; ad give a icrease i resources to Victim Support. 10 The Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Scheme provides fiacial compesatio ad is the most geerous state scheme withi the Europea Uio. There are similar arragemets i Scotlad where resposibility for most of the crimial justice system is devolved, icludig support for victims. 5 Formerly sposored by the Home Office ad moved to the Miistry of Justice i May Before April 2006 the Pael was a No-Departmetal Public Body sposored by the Home Office. 7 The Authority ad the Pael are cross-border public authorities for the purposes of sectio 88 of the Scotlad Act The Scottish Miisters must be cosulted o ay Miisterial decisio relatig to the compesatio scheme, the Authority or the Pael, ad the aual reports ad accouts for the Authority ad the Tribuals Service must be laid i both Parliamets. Special arragemets apply to appoitmets to the Pael. Officials from the Scottish Govermet, the Miistry of Justice ad the Tribuals Service keep i regular cotact to facilitate these arragemets. 8 This cotributio is curretly calculated each year by referece to the proportio of compesatio paid i respect of Scottish cases over the previous three years. 9 Rebalacig the crimial justice system i favour of the law abidig majority: cuttig crime, reducig reoffedig ad protectig the public, Home Office, July Victim Support is a charity that helps people cope with the effects of crime ad receives fudig of some 30 millio a year from the Miistry of Justice. Victim Support Scotlad receives early 4 millio a year from the Scottish Govermet. 8 Compesatig victims of violet crime

11 part oe There are miimum stadards of service for victims i Eglad ad Wales 1.4 I October 2005, the Govermet issued a Code of Practice for Victims of Crime that sets miimum stadards of service for how crimial justice agecies should support victims. It requires the Authority ad the Pael to meet obligatios such as set timescales for respodig to correspodece ad makig iformatio available to applicats. The Code 11 (at uk/documets/victims-code-of-practice) covers victims i Eglad ad Wales. There is o equivalet statutory code i Scotlad but the Scottish Natioal Stadards for Victims of Crime, which set out what victims should expect i their dealigs with the crimial justice or childre s hearigs systems, are edorsed by all key stakeholders i the crimial justice system. The value of awards is determied by a tariff system 1.5 To obtai a award, applicats must meet several criteria set out i Figure 1. The mai criterio is to have bee ijured directly as a result of a crime of violece. There is o legal defiitio of a crime of violece but it will usually ivolve a physical attack o the perso, for example a assault, woudig or sexual offece. 12 Applicats must have suffered a physical or metal ijury (or both) that is serious eough to qualify for the miimum award. 1.6 The value of awards for applicatios received sice April 1996 is determied by a tariff for differet ijuries 13 (Figure 2 overleaf). Awards rage from 1,000 to 250,000, the latter for severe ijuries icludig permaet, serious brai damage. If the applicat sustais more tha oe ijury, compesatio comprises 100 per cet of the tariff for the most serious ijury plus 30 per cet ad 15 per cet for the secod ad third ijuries. The majority of awards are for ijuries at Levels 1 to 5 ivolvig paymets of 1,000 to 2, Applicatios must meet a umber of criteria to be eligible for a award Cause of ijury The ijury must be attributable to a crime of violece; uder the scheme, the Authority decides whether a crime of violece occurred o the balace of probabilities. This is the same burde of proof used i the civil courts, as opposed to beyod reasoable doubt used by the crimial courts. Type of ijury The ijury must be serious eough to qualify for at least the miimum award uder the scheme ( 1,000). Timig The ijury must have occurred after 1 August 1964; the applicatio has to be received withi two years, ad the case eeds to be substatiated. Locatio The ijury must have bee sustaied i Eglad, Scotlad or Wales. Discretio The Authority also has discretio to refuse or reduce a award because of: the applicat s coduct before, durig or after the icidet; the applicat s character as show by crimial covictios or other evidece; the applicat failig to report the crime without delay; or the applicat failig to cooperate with the police or the Authority. Source: Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Authority 11 Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, Home Office, 19 October Idividuals ijured as a result of arso, poisoig or while tryig to prevet a offece might also be etitled to a award, as log as ay risk beig take was exceptioal ad justified. 13 Prior to the itroductio of the tariff scheme i April 1996, compesatio was assessed o the basis of commo law, accordig to what oe could expect to be awarded i a successful actio for damages i the civil courts. The Authority ad the Pael cotiue to deal with outstadig cases uder the previous o-tariff scheme, 243 of which remaied at Jue May of these cases relate to childre with serious head ijuries, where the medical progosis caot be determied util they reach adulthood. Compesatig victims of violet crime 9

12 part oe 2 Tariff bads ad umber of awards, for the most serious ijury oly, i each bad i Level Tariff Example of ijury i tariff level iitial Review Appeal Total Gross value sum decisio millio 1 1,000 Temporary blurred or double visio 6 13 weeks 4, , ,250 Scarrig of torso or limbs mior disfiguremet 1, , ,500 Frequet acts of mior idecet assault (child) 5, , ,750 Perforated ear-drum ,000 Dislocated jaw substatial recovery 2, , ,500 Disablig metal illess lastig up to 28 weeks 1, , ,300 Serious sexual assault (child) repetitive 2, , ,800 Loss of four or more frot teeth 1, , ,400 Facial scarrig sigificat disfiguremet 1, , ,500 Severe physical abuse (adult) patter of 1, , repetitive violece mior disfiguremet 11 6,600 Depressed skull fracture requirig operatio ,200 Fractured or dislocated akles substatial recovery , ,000 No-cosesual sexual itercourse oe attacker ,000 Severe physical abuse (child) persistet patter of repetitive violece severe multiple ijuries 15 16,500 Total deafess oe ear ,000 Partial loss of visio 6/ ,000 Sexual assault serious iteral bodily ijuries ,000 Paralysis of leg ,000 Multiple first degree burs coverig at least 25 per cet of body 20 44,000 Brai damage serious impairmet of social/itellectual fuctios 21 55,000 Hemiplegia (paralysis of oe side of the body) ,000 Loss of both arms ,000 Loss of sight i both eyes ,000 Paraplegia (paralysis of the lower limbs) ,000 Permaet brai damage extremely serious (o effective cotrol of fuctios) Total 25,885 3,937 1,663 31, Source: Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Authority NOTE 1 Total of awards does ot equal total paymets to applicats of 192 millio due to additioal paymets for secod ad third ijuries ad paymets for costs, for example loss of earigs or loss of paretal services. 10 Compesatig victims of violet crime

13 part oe 1.7 Where a ijury causes icapacity for more tha 28 weeks, victims ca receive additioal paymets to cover their loss of earigs ad costs of care. I fatal cases, qualifyig depedats or relatives receive 5,500 (or 11,000 if there is oly oe), with additioal paymets to cover fueral expeses, loss of fiacial support ad 2,000 per year to depedet childre to provide services that childre would ormally receive from a paret. These paymets ca icrease the total amout payable to a maximum of 500, The Govermet itroduced the tariff scheme to stop costs risig at a rate that was o loger sustaiable ad make them more predictable, to speed up the processig of applicatios ad to provide a better service to applicats by makig the scheme simpler to admiister ad easier to uderstad. 14 The Authority ad the Pael use a rage of evidece to decide a award 1.9 The Authority ad the Pael make their decisios by cosiderig iformatio that the applicat has provided i a stadard applicatio form o the icidet ad ijury, ad additioal iformatio that the applicat might provide later; data from the police o the reported crime ad ay crimial record the applicat has; details of the applicat s ijuries from GPs ad hospital cosultats; ad iformatio relevat to loss of earigs from employers ad others, like the Departmet for Work ad Pesios. The curret process, which the Authority is revisig, is laid out i Figure 3. 3 The Authority ad the Pael follow a stadard process to decide applicatios1 Applicat accepts full, reduced or il award. Appropriate paymet is made or, for certai vulerable applicats, the award is retaied (to be maaged o their behalf) Applicat rejects decisio ad applies for a review Applicat rejects decisio ad applies for a appeal Postal or olie applicatio Iitial Actio (icidet iformatio requested from police) Iitial decisio made (Case Assessmet Sectio) Review decisio made (Review Sectio) Hearig budle for Pael prepared (Presetig Officers Uit at the Authority) Fial decisio made (the Pael) Caseworkers recommed decisios to decisio makers who may ask caseworkers to request further iformatio before makig a decisio The Pael may request that the Authority gathers further iformatio before makig a fial decisio Further iformatio requested from third parties, maily police, medical experts (iitially the applicat s GP) ad the applicat Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Authority processes NOTE 1 This process is curretly i place for 80 per cet of applicatios ad is uder review. Twety per cet of applicatios are icluded i the Authority s pilot of its proposed ew process (see Part 4). 14 Compesatig Victims of Violet Crime, HC 398, Parliametary Sessio Compesatig victims of violet crime 11

14 part oe 1.10 Before November 2006 the Authority processed applicatios at its offices i Lodo ad Glasgow but moved all its casework operatios to Glasgow by September The Pael admiisters appeal hearigs from its offices i Lodo ad Glasgow. Our previous examiatio showed scope for improvemet 1.11 The Committee of Public Accouts examied the scheme i August followig our report i April , ad wated the scheme to be made more accessible to all victims; commuicatios to be improved with applicats, police ad hospitals; decisios to be explaied better to applicats; ad the Authority to improve the quality of decisios. The Committee also recommeded that the Authority should review its split of work betwee Lodo ad Glasgow We examied the extet to which the Authority, the Pael ad the Miistry of Justice 17 had met the Committee s recommedatios. We foud that, whilst they had achieved some of them, for example o improvig explaatios for award decisios, they had ot met or had oly partially met others. The Committee s coclusios ad recommedatios ad the Govermet s respose are set out i full at Appedix 1. The Authority has iitiated a major reform programme 1.13 I Jauary 2006 a ew Director withi the Home Office 18 took resposibility for sposorship of the Authority. I February 2006 the Director formed a trasitio project board to oversee a major reform programme ad, as part of this reform, a ew iterim Chief Executive was appoited i August The ew Chief Executive set up a ew maagemet structure at the Authority with four iterim Directors ad herself makig up a Maagemet Board. A ew goverace structure was created with a Performace Board, a Programme Board ad a Policy Board, each chaired by a idepedet o-executive member. A ew Chief Executive replaced the iterim Chief Executive i September The iterim maagemet team idetified major problems with the casework process ad istigated a major chage programme to improve the Authority s service to applicats, reduce processig times ad reduce the umber of uresolved cases. What we examied 1.14 This report focuses o whether the Authority ad the Pael commuicate effectively with applicats; what proportio of victims access the compesatio scheme; ad whether the Authority ad the Pael process claims more quickly ad efficietly tha whe we last reported. Our fieldwork took ito accout explicitly the reform programme iitiated by the iterim Chief Executive ad its effects, as far as was possible withi the timescale of our study. Our pricipal methods are show i Figure 4 ad i detail at Appedix Committee of Public Accouts 30th report of , Compesatig Victims of Violet Crime, HC Compesatig Victims of Violet Crime, HC 398, Parliametary Sessio Before 9 May 2007, the Miistry s role was udertake by the Home Office. 18 The Miistry of Justice took over from the Home Office o 9 May Compesatig victims of violet crime

15 part oe 4 Our sources of evidece i carryig out this examiatio Method Aalysis of the Authority s database ad the Pael s maagemet iformatio Review of a radom sample of 102 cases ad a selective sample of 167 cases, split betwee 10 sub-groups Aalysis of the characteristics of applicats ad applicatio patters compared with icidets of violet crimes Mappig of the casework process Cosultatio with the police ad medical professioals Cosultatio with victims charities ad a web survey of victims Aalysis of the Authority s survey of applicats Idetificatio of good practices i processig, websites ad call cetre Purpose To gather primary data o the umber of applicatios received ad the characteristics of applicats. To examie how applicatios traslate ito awards, icludig the timig ad value of awards; review ad appeals processes; ad iformatio from third parties. To idetify factors that result i delays i processig. To assess if the scheme is beig equally accessed by all eligible applicats, or whether there are patters of uder-represetatio relatig to factors such as ethicity, geder, age, geographical area ad employmet status. To develop a thorough uderstadig of the casework ad appeals processes ad the Authority s work to improve the curret process. To assess whether the pilot offers the potetial for improvemets i customer service ad cost-effectiveess. To determie how third parties maage requests for iformatio from the Authority ad the Pael ad barriers to the more speedy provisio of iformatio. To gather the views of victims, applicats ad their represetatives o the iformatio, the ease of applicatio ad the quality of service provided. To assess how applicats fid out about the scheme, ease of applicatio, motivatio for usig represetatives, the quality of commuicatio, ad satisfactio with the hadlig of their case, icludig the processig time. To assess the extet to which the Authority adheres to good practice idetified i previous Natioal Audit Office reports. Source: Natioal Audit Office Compesatig victims of violet crime 13

16 Part two The Authority ad the Pael should do more to support victims from icidet to fial decisio The Authority ad the Pael could have doe more to support victims Not all eligible victims of violet crime apply for compesatio uder the scheme 2.1 Victims who have suffered a ijury as a result of a violet crime, which is serious eough to fall withi a tariff bad, are eligible for compesatio uder the scheme. Fewer tha five per cet 19 of all ijured victims, however, applied to the scheme i , although those with more mior ijuries would ot have bee eligible. Applicatios have falle from almost 79,000 i to uder 61,000 i , a reductio of aroud 23 per cet. This mirrors the 25 per cet decrease i violet crimes resultig i ijuries over the same period, as show i Figure Victim Support cosidered victims might ot wat to apply because they do ot wat to re-live their ordeal; they may ot be iterested i compesatio; they may ot kow about the scheme; or they might thik they would be ieligible. Victims fid out about the scheme through sources icludig Victim Support, police forces, hospital staff, solicitors, Trades Uios, the media or the iteret. The Miistry of Justice ad the Authority should better publicise the scheme to eligible victims that are least likely to apply 2.4 Followig our previous report, the Committee of Public Accouts recommeded that the Authority should research whether applicats have a equal opportuity to fid out about the scheme (Appedix 1). This would allow the Authority ad the Miistry of Justice to idetify victims less likely to apply ad target publicity about the scheme towards them. Research o the demographics of those most likely to make ieligible applicatios would also eable targeted publicity. The Authority has ot, however, carried out such work because of ucertaity caused by possible reforms to the scheme ad chages i recordig ad defiig violet crime. We therefore commissioed cosultats to compare the characteristics of applicats to the scheme with those of the subset of victims of violet crime i Eglad ad Wales 21 whose ijuries were cosistet with a applicatio to the scheme. A similar aalysis for Scotlad would ot have produced robust results because the survey data available at the time of our study were based o a smaller sample size tha usual The Miistry of Justice coducts regular surveys of witesses ad victims whose cases reach the stage of a suspect beig charged or beyod. The latest survey 20 showed that, i April to December 2006, 36 per cet of victims ijured as a result of crime were aware of the scheme ad, of these, oly half applied. 19 We are uable to compare the umber of applicatios per 100 recorded violet crimes due to chages i the recordig of crimes sice we last reported. 20 Witess ad Victim Experiece Survey, April December Characteristics of Victims of Violet Crime Applyig for Compesatio, Atkis Maagemet Cosultats o behalf of the Natioal Audit Office, December The aalysis drew o several datasets, i particular the British Crime Survey where data were draw from Home Office, 2006a, Crime i Eglad ad Wales, dowloaded from ad Home Office, 2006b, Crimial Statistics, 2005, dowloaded from ad with referece to Home Office, British Crime Survey (Eglad ad Wales), Techical Report Volume The Scottish Crime ad Victimisatio Survey 2004, was based o a sample of 3,000 iterviewees, which is a smaller sample tha usual. Our cosultats estimated that, oce the sample had bee reduced to iclude oly those that were ijured above the Authority s threshold as a result of a crime of violece, this would result i a fial sample of some 30 icidets, which is too small to derive statistically meaigful results. 14 Compesatig victims of violet crime

17 part two After adjustig the data to esure they were comparable 23, they show that some victims are more likely to apply ad to be successful: 24 While me ad wome are equally likely to receive a ijury above the Authority s threshold for compesatio, me are disproportioately more likely to apply tha wome (74 per cet of applicatios agaist 26 per cet). Male ad female applicats are equally likely to receive a award. Our aalysis showed that victims aged 55 ad over are slightly over represeted, accoutig for some four per cet of violet icidets above the Authority s threshold for compesatio but seve per cet of applicatios, ad are more likely to receive a award tha youger applicats. People who are ot i employmet are more likely to apply tha other victims. They make up 46 per cet of icidets of violet crime with ijury above the Authority s threshold but 55 per cet of applicatios. Oly a third of claims from uemployed people are successful. Rates of violet crime vary by regio. Oce these variatios are take ito accout, we foud that victims i the North East, North West ad Yorkshire ad Humber regios are most likely to apply, relative to the rates of violet crime, while those i the South East are least likely to apply. There is, however, little differece i their success rates. No-white victims of violet crime are more likely to apply tha white victims (12 per cet of applicatios but five per cet of icidets). No-white applicats are slightly less likely to be successful with 44 per cet receivig awards i compared to 51 per cet of white applicats. 2.5 Some victims ad victims charities that we cosulted 25 cosidered that people with learig difficulties, asylum seekers ad people who put a low value o themselves would be less likely to report crimes to the police or apply to the scheme. 5 The umber of applicatios to the scheme has reduced i lie with the fall i violet crime Number of applicatios 115,000 Number of violet crimes resultig i a ijury 1,800, , , ,000 95,000 90,000 85,000 80,000 75,000 70,000 65,000 Number of violet crimes resultig i a ijury Number of applicatios 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000, ,000 60, , Year Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of data from the Authority ad the British Crime Survey NOTE Data for umbers of violet crimes are uavailable for the period from Jauary 2000 to March For example, British Crime Survey data iclude victims of crime with very mior ijuries, ad those that did ot suffer a ijury. Full details of the aalysis are give i Characteristics of Victims of Violet Crime Applyig for Compesatio, Atkis Maagemet Cosultats o behalf of the Natioal Audit Office, December 2007, which is available from our website. 24 All results are based o otable differeces i percetages ad are sigificat at least at the 95 per cet level. 25 Victim Support, the Victims Advisory Pael ad Rape Crisis. Compesatig victims of violet crime 15

18 part two 2.6 Victims of violet crime are eligible to apply for compesatio for ijuries sustaied i the course of their employmet. Police ad fire officers may also be eligible where they are ijured accidetally takig exceptioal but justifiable risks. 26 Our aalysis of the Authority s data showed that police officers made up four per cet of applicats whose claims were resolved i ad fire fighters 0.2 per cet. Data are ot available to determie whether members of these professios are more likely to apply tha other victims. The Miistry of Justice ad the Authority could do more to help victims of violet crime to apply to the scheme 2.7 Uder the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, police forces i Eglad ad Wales are required to provide all victims of crime with the curret Victims of Crime leaflet that refers to the scheme ad explais how to obtai further iformatio. The referece o the leaflet to further guidace o the scheme was out of date at the time of our review but is ow beig chaged. Police forces i Scotlad provide a equivalet leaflet to victims that gives details of how to cotact the Authority. The police play a key role i makig victims aware of the scheme, both direct ad through Victim Support. The Authority s survey of applicats i July ad August showed that 37 per cet of applicats became aware of the scheme through the police ad 29 per cet through Victim Support, ad some 90 per cet of referrals to Victim Support origiate from the police. Most applicats use the paper-based applicatio form 2.8 Niety five per cet of applicatios resolved i were made usig the paper applicatio form. The form has 13 pages of questios, ot all of which are ecessary to decide a claim, ad it does ot refer to the website or provide a telephoe umber. Nietee per cet of respodets to the Authority s survey foud the form difficult ad almost half of those usig represetatives did so because they foud it too complicated. The Associatio of Persoal Ijury Lawyers told us may fid it itimidatig ad Victim Support Scotlad cosidered that the detail required ca be dautig for traumatised idividuals. The Authority produced a short guide to the scheme but this ad other guidace has ot bee kept up to date ad it uderstates the time take to decide cases. Less tha half the calls to the Authority s call cetre result i a aswer to the caller s query 2.9 The Authority s cotracted out call cetre ( ) helps victims apply. Eighty five per cet of calls are aswered, ad half are passed o as call cetre staff do ot have the kowledge to aswer them. The Authority s survey of applicats foud that 24 per cet foud it difficult to get a aswer to their queries. The call cetre was set up as a six moth pilot i 2001, ot evaluated, ad cotiues without a formal cotract We assessed the extet to which the curret call cetre meets good practice idetified i previous reports. 28 Several areas could be improved, icludig the provisio of iformatio. Rather tha havig a sigle well advertised phoe umber, the Authority operates a free phoe umber ad a office phoe umber that are advertised o its website ( but ot icluded i directories. There is o advertised cost per miute ad o data o time take to aswer although research 29 shows that 50 per cet of people cosider that, whe cotactig a public service, it would be reasoable for calls to be aswered withi 30 secods. Five per cet of applicats apply olie 2.11 The Authority s website at is a useful source of iformatio for victims ad adheres to most of the recommedatios that we have made for websites. 30 It allows applicats to apply olie, although oly five per cet of those whose cases were resolved i did. The website icludes a eligibility questioaire ad a tariff calculator as well as the full rage of guidace. The search facility ad sigpostig betwee the various screes could be improved as could the relevace of iformatio provided. For istace, the site icludes the 1996 ad 2001 compesatio schemes but it is ot clear which is relevat i what circumstaces Victims usig the iteret to access the scheme have foud that searchig for crimial ijuries compesatio or CICA brigs up a umber of solicitors websites. Oe respodet to our web survey iadvertetly used a legal represetative s website. 26 This also applies to civilias where there is a lower threshold because they are ot traied to take risks expected of the uiformed services. 27 2,368 applicats respoded i July ad August Departmet for Eviromet, Food ad Rural Affairs, ad Rural Paymets Agecy: the delays i admiisterig the 2005 Sigle Paymet Scheme i Eglad, HC 1631, ; HM Reveue & Customs: Helpig idividuals uderstad ad complete their tax forms, HC 452, ; Usig Call Cetres to Deliver Public Services, HC 134, People s Pael Telephoe Wave 3, Cabiet Office, April Research based o a survey of a represetative sample of 1,003 People s Pael members. Data were weighted to the kow profile of the populatio for factors icludig geder, age, work status ad geographical regio. 30 Govermet o the Iteret: progress i deliverig iformatio ad services olie, HC 529, ; HM Reveue & Customs: Helpig idividuals uderstad ad complete their tax forms, HC 452, Compesatig victims of violet crime

19 part two A work colleague set me a website lik so I rag for a applicatio from there. Oly trouble is I was actually rigig a middle ma who helped me fill i the applicatio the forwarded it oto the compesatio departmet. They the took 700 approx i fees whe it was awarded. I did t realise I was t dealig directly util that happeed. Over half of applicats use represetatives to help them with their applicatio 2.13 Some applicats choose to be represeted by a persoal ijury lawyer. Fee rates vary 31 ad may lawyers operate o a o wi, o fee basis. Victim Support represets applicats for free, which the Victims Advisory Pael cosidered should be made clearer i guidace. Our aalysis showed that the proportio of applicats represeted has decreased from over two thirds i 2000 to 58 per cet i Twety eight per cet of represeted applicats that respoded to the Authority s survey thought that they had to be represeted; the Authority s website ad guidace should be clearer o this. Research 33 by the Departmet for Costitutioal Affairs 34 foud that 70 per cet of appellats that had received advice or help with their appeal had doe so from a solicitor. For those i the Lodo area who caot afford to pay for a lawyer, the Free Represetatio Uit provides represetatio at appeal hearigs without charge for a small umber of cases, 35 as far as its resources allow. Half of applicatios are usuccessful 2.14 Despite iformatio available to applicats o eligibility, the proportio of all applicatios that do ot receive a award remais at 50 per cet, the same as whe we last reported. Figure 6 shows that over a quarter of claims are disallowed because ijuries are ot serious eough to qualify for the miimum award. Other commo reasos for rejectio are failure to cooperate with the police, the applicat s crimial record ad because the ijury did ot result from a crime of violece. Eighty three per cet of those that respoded to the Authority s survey would have take advice o who qualifies for compesatio if this had bee available, though this might ot have deterred them from makig a speculative applicatio. 6 Over a quarter of claims are disallowed because the ijury is ot serious eough Disallowed claims umber of Percetage of disallowed claims disallowed claims Ijury ot serious eough to qualify for miimum award of 1,000 8, Failure to cooperate with police i brigig assailat to justice 5, Maily, ijury did ot result from crime of violece 4, Applicat s crimial record/character 4, Coduct before, durig or after the icidet 3, Failure to report without delay to police 1,760 6 Failure to cooperate with the Authority 1,729 5 Claim ot submitted withi two years of icidet Pre-existig medical coditio Previous claim for same ijury Motor vehicle cases, maily, vehicle ot used as a weapo with the itetio to ijure Applicatio did ot meet restrictios Other Total 31, Source: Crimial Ijuries Compesatio Authority NOTE 1 For some applicatios there was more tha oe reaso for refusal, so the total figure i the table is higher tha the total umber of refused applicatios. 31 Fees ca be charged o differet bases, for example o a hourly rate or as a percetage of the compesatio award. 32 Thirty per cet are represeted by solicitors, 21 per cet by Victim Support, 7 per cet by other represetatives such as Trades Uios ad 42 per cet are ot represeted. 33 Tribuals for diverse users, Professor Hazel Ge, Be Lever, Laure Gray with Nigel Balmer ad Natioal Cetre for Social Research, Departmet for Costitutioal Affairs Research Series 1/06, Jauary The Miistry of Justice assumed resposibility for the Tribuals Service i May The Uit provided represetatio i five cases betwee Jauary ad July Compesatig victims of violet crime 17