Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2009

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A decision made (06/07/2009) regarding: Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2009 - Revisions.

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2009-0067
Decision Summary Title :	Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2009		Date of Decision Summary:	26th June 2009
Decision Summary Author:	Executive Officer Home Affairs Department		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Report and Proposition – Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme		Date of Written Report:	22nd June 2009
Written Report Author:	Executive Officer Home Affairs Department		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme: revisions.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the Report and Proposition to revise the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and requested that it be lodged ‘au Greffe’ forthwith, and with a view to securing the first available date for debate.
Reason(s) for Decision: Amendments to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme have previously been published in the R&O series. However, the Scheme is not legislation, and in order for the States to approve any amendments, it is felt that the simplest way is for the States to be asked to approve the Scheme in its amended form, incorporating the proposed amendments.
Resource Implications: There are no financial implications, other than the proposed requirement that awards should be claimed within 6 months, which will result in an amount representing current awards older than 6 months being written back to the budget of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
Action required: The Executive Officer, Home Affairs, to request the Greffier of the States to lodge the Report and Proposition ‘au Greffe’.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2009 - Revisions.

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion –

to refer to their Act dated 4th December 1990 in which they agreed to establish a scheme to provide compensation for victims of crimes of violence to replace the Scheme set out in the Act of the States dated 12th May 1970 and -

to approve the amended Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme as set out in the attached Appendix to the Report of the Minister for Home Affairs dated [LODGING DATE]

Minister for Home Affairs

REPORT

The current Jersey Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme came into force on 1st May 1991 as a result of an Act of the States of the 4th December 1990, “establishing a Scheme to provide compensation for victims of crimes of violence to replace the Scheme set out in the Act of the States dated 12th May 1970”.

Amendments to the Scheme have previously been published in the R&O series, notwithstanding that the Scheme is not legislation. However, it is felt that this should, henceforth, be rectified, and that the simplest way is for the States to be asked to approve the entire Scheme in its amended form whenever amendments are proposed. This process can then be repeated when and if future amendments are required. One benefit is that the updated text of the Scheme is always available in the proposition document.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board have generally been satisfied with the workings of the 1990 Scheme (as previously amended), but have recommended a number of amendments which it feels are desirable in order to improve the way in which the Scheme operates. These amendments have been incorporated into the Scheme, and the principal amendments are as follows:

(a) to increase the number of persons on the Board administering the Scheme from 10 to 12, with 3 of these, instead of the current 2, being advocates or solicitors; (Article 4(a)).

The increase in the number of members of the Board will enable the workload to be more evenly spread amongst the members. It is not envisaged that the increase will result in any increased expenditure to the Scheme, as members are paid by the hour; the existing level of expenditure would be spread amongst a greater number of members.

(b) to increase from £750 to £1,500 the amount below which no award will be made under the Scheme (except in the case of funeral expenses); (Article 14)

The amount of any compensation to be awarded to an applicant is assessed on the basis of ‘Common Law’ damages, subject always to the other provisions of the Scheme. However, in order to maximize the limited resources available to the Board, a lower limit is imposed, which means that when injuries sustained are of a comparatively minor nature then no award is made. The current minimum is £750, which was set in 1998. An award in that figure could relate to injuries such as cuts, bruises or sprains and in a few days loss of earnings. It is therefore proposed to double the figure to £1,500.

(c) to restrict the loss of earnings that may be taken into account to not more than 1.5 times a figure based on the Jersey Index of Average Earnings (Article 24(a));

In its calculation of loss of earnings, the Scheme currently provides that “the rate of net loss earnings or earning capacity to be taken into account shall not exceed one and a half times the gross average industrial earnings at the date of assessment (as published by the United Kingdom Department of Employment Gazette and as adjusted as considered appropriate by the Board).” As this ‘Gazette’ is no longer published, rather than use United Kingdom data on gross average industrial earnings the Board believes that it would be preferable instead to use Jersey figures as even the use of the U.K. Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) renders the Jersey Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme out of kilter with the equivalent U.K. Scheme. The Statistics Unit compiles earnings data in Jersey every year - collected by way of a survey of the private sector; and a census of the public sector - in order to determine the Jersey Average Earnings Index. The mean (‘average’) earnings of full-time equivalent (F.T.E.) employees is published regularly and the Board considers that this would be an improvement upon using U.K. figures. This amendment to the Scheme addresses the use of this Jersey-specific data.

to provide that an award of compensation by the Board lapses if not accepted within 6 months unless exceptional circumstances exist.

Following a States Treasury Internal Audit of the Scheme undertaken as part of the 2008 Internal Audit Plan, whilst satisfied that the Scheme was being administered in an efficient manner, it was recommended that a time limit for accepting awards should be specified, failing which the awards should be written back as income. It had been noted that the Scheme did not prescribe such a time limit within which awards should be claimed by applicants, and that as at June 2008, awards amounting to over £22,000 were lying unclaimed. As some of these had being lying unclaimed since 1998, it was considered that steps should be taken to rectify such a situation for the future. Consequently, it is proposed that awards should be accepted within 6 months of their notification to applicants unless exceptional circumstances exist.

References throughout the Scheme to Committees have been changed to references to appropriate Ministers and minor changes have been made for the sake of consistency within the original Act.

Financial and manpower implications

There are no additional financial or manpower implications arising from these amendments, other than in respect of the proposed requirement that awards should be claimed within 6 months, whereby an amount representing current awards older than 6 months will be written back to the budget of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

Senator B I Le Marquand

Minister for Home Affairs