[holding answer 8 May 2006]: As at 21 June 2006 the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) had received 522 applications for compensation arising from the incidents on 7 and 21 July 2005. They had offered 255 final awards and 165 interim awards, and had paid out over £2¼ million in respect of these claims.
CICA advise that they have made large interim awards in 17 cases where the injuries might be described as extremely serious. These injuries include loss of one or more limbs, loss of an eye, and serious burns to extensive areas of the body.
CICA have not yet been able to finalise any of these seriously injured cases, as they all involve claims for compensation additional to the basic tariff awards for loss of earnings and special expenses, and in all cases the final prognosis for recovery is not yet clear.
CICA will continue to make substantial interim awards in cases where final settlement is not in prospect, provided they have a police report confirming the claimant’s involvement in one of the incidents and a medical report confirming the nature and extent of the injuries.
We announced on 8 June 2006 that we were making an extra donation of £2.5 million to the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund to give assistance to bereaved and the injured victims of the 7 July London bombings. The further support was being made on a special, one-off basis in recognition of the exceptional circumstances of the London bombings, rather than under the rules of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, which would require a change to legislation 8 June 2006, Official Report, column 38WS.