Red Tape Stalls Crime Victim Compensation
VICTIMS of violent crime in Scotland are having to wait months longer than they should to receive state compensation because of police red tape, The Scotsman has learned.
Some police forces are waiting “many months” before releasing basic crime information needed to process thousands of criminal injuries compensation claims made in Scotland every year, it has been claimed.
The Scotsman has obtained new figures that show nearly 4,000 victims of serious crime north of the Border last year had to wait an average of 371 days to receive awards totalling about £16 million from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
In extreme cases, applicants have had to wait up to five years for pay-outs.
The Scotsman understands that two police forces, Central and Fife, do not release crime records to the government agency until after a case has been dealt with in court, which can be more than a year after a crime took place.
This is in contrast with police practices in England and Wales, where a new 30-day target for releasing information to support applications has been introduced. There are already signs the approach is working, with applications south of the Border taking an average of seven days less to be processed than in Scotland in 2006-7.
Victim Support Scotland (VSS), which helps many people make applications to the CICA, says police are not doing enough to help victims and are calling on forces to introduce a target similar to the one south of the Border.
Alan McCloskey, VSS area director for the Central region, said: “It’s slightly irritating, to say the least, that there are such inconsistent police practices.
“The CICA is happy to give awards for undetected crimes, so there is no reason for police to wait until the trial to release the information. Such delays can hold up an application for many months.”
He added: “It is down to the
individual police officer. If you deal with the local officer who dealt with the crime, they can be really helpful, but others might have other priorities.”
Mr McCloskey said the criminal injuries compensation system, while helping people to move on, needed to be streamlined.
“It’s not always about the money. The compensation scheme can really help victims of crime to get on with their lives,” he said. “It makes a real difference and can help people to achieve closure, as well as deal with issues like loss of earnings. But it can be a very laborious, daunting and draining process for victims.”
A Central Scotland Police spokesman said: “For the past 18 months the force has been conducting a review of how it engages with victims of crime and processes are currently being considered to see if there is scope to make further enhancements to the service delivered to the public.”
