7/7 bombing victims' claims 'grinding to a halt'

The government body responsible for compensating the 7 July London bombing victims has been strongly criticised for delays and inefficiencies in a report by MPs.

The report warns that the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is "slowly grinding to a halt" and "adding to victims' woes" by failing to process claims quickly enough.

It highlights a growing backlog of more than 80,000 cases nationally which has built up despite a 54 per cent rise since 1999 in the amount of taxpayers' money spent dealing with each claim.

The findings, in a report by the Commons public accounts committee, will heighten concern about the compensation authority's performance following complaints from some victims that it has been too slow in helping those injured or bereaved in the London bombings two years ago.

The latest figures show that 143 of the 635 claims submitted over the bombings have still to be resolved, including 99 where the applicant has yet to receive a penny.

Today's report by MPs says despite this the 7/7 claims have been generally handled more swiftly than other cases, but rounds on the authority for its overall performance.

Committee chairman Edward Leigh criticised the bureaucracy and inefficiency of the authority. He highlighted findings showing that the authority was taking longer to deal with cases, failing to reduce the number of ineligible applications and missing its targets.

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."

Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, whose investigation of the authority's performance is the basis of today's report, said standards had declined since the organisation was last inspected in 2000.

He added: "Delays in resolving these issues can make it more difficult for victims to move on from a traumatic experience. We look to CICA to make swift improvements."

London bombing victim Thelma Stober has told of her anger at the compensation delays, saying: "We are the forgotten people." The lawyer lost her left leg in the Circle line bomb at Aldgate. She received £33,000, the maximum for the loss of a limb below the knee, but felt let down by the form-filling and regulation. She also suffered loss of hearing, damage to her right foot and severe scarring to her back.

Carole Oatway, chief executive of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, said work to reform the service and improve performance was under way and that £192 million had been paid out to victims of crime in the financial year 2006-7. She said the authority had already started addressing many of the issues raised in the report and the changes were bringing improvements.