Crime compensation body criticised

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MP Edward Leigh, chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, accused the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) of "slowly grinding to a halt".

He said the organisation is failing to help people who have suffered traumatic attacks and injuries while the taxpayer is paying more money for a worse service.

His comments came after a damning report by the National Audit Office highlighted consistently poor performance at the CICA.

Inspectors said the body is taking longer to deal with cases, failing to reduce the number of ineligible applications and missing its targets.

A growing backlog of cases means more than 81,000 people are still waiting to find out if they will receive any support.

Meanwhile, the cost to the taxpayer of administering the service continues to rise, with the cost of dealing with each application up by 54% since 1999.

Mr Leigh said: "Applications are falling and the cost of processing a case is rising. In short, the taxpayer is paying even more money for a worse service.

"CICA is taking longer to deal with claims and the building backlog of cases means over 80,000 people are still waiting to see if they will receive any financial support.

"The authority is supposed to offer relief and help people who have been through traumatic experiences, but too often it adds to victims' woes."