'Savaged' criminal injuries scheme to go ahead

The introduction later this month of a 'savaged' version of the government scheme to compensate people injured in violent crimes has been condemned by retail union Usdaw. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has confirmed that the revised Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) will come into force on 27 November. The union says under the new cut-price version, the vast majority of innocent victims of violent crime will discover they are either no longer eligible for any compensation or that the amount paid out for injuries has been slashed. On 11 November, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs approved the revised scheme, which currently awards compensation to between 30,000 and 40,000 people each year who have been seriously injured in a crime of violence and who cannot obtain recompense from any other source, such as their assailant. Innocent victims now have until 23.59 on Monday 26 November to submit a claim that will be considered under the existing scheme. After this date, claims for any incident, whether it occurred before or after midnight on 26 November, will be processed under the new and much meaner scheme. John Hannett, Usdaw general secretary, commented: 'The entire process of making the cuts has been a shameful and frankly grubby episode in the exercise of government, one made all the more shocking because it's innocent victims of violent crime who are going to suffer. The government should do much more to make victims aware of the changes, but I suspect its silence reflects the weakness of its own case for the cuts and the inherent embarrassment of highlighting them.' He added: 'Usdaw urges anyone who has been injured in the course of a crime to submit an application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority as soon as possible and by 26 November at the latest.'

• Usdaw news release and CICA email announcement and CICA webpages and application details.