Warinder Juss

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I thank and congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Northfield (Laurence Turner) on securing this important debate and on his moving and eloquent speech. The fact that he only received £1,000 compensation for the very significant injuries he sustained is an indicator of the inadequacy of the scheme. Throughout my career as a personal injury solicitor before I became an MP, and now as an MP, I have tried to be a steadfast advocate for access to justice so that victims of injury, including victims of crimes of violence, can receive suitable redress. Compensation for injury does not just represent a recognition of the harm inflicted upon victims but provides the support and financial redress necessary so that victims of injury can start to rebuild their lives. I would like to follow on from what my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Northfield said about the criminal injuries compensation scheme. It is a national asset. It is there to compensate people who have been physically or mentally injured due to a violent crime, and those whose loved ones have died as a result of a crime of violence. But the scheme clearly needs reform. Too often, the system is falling short, leaving victims unsupported and failed. Too many are blocked from access to justice by an arbitrary time cap, and many are left behind by the long and confusing claims process. The tariff system for assessing compensation means that victims are simply not properly compensated, and the compensation that they receive is inadequate in comparison with the injuries that they have suffered. They then have the problem of lodging an appeal, which again is very time-consuming and difficult, and yet another barrier to justice.