The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), which concluded in 2022, recommended reforming the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) to include online-facilitated and other forms of child sexual abuse, dropping the automatic exclusion on applicants with unspent convictions, and increasing the time limit for applications to seven years running from the date of reporting or the date the applicant turned 18, with discretion to extend.
Last week, however, the Ministry of Justice confirmed it will make no change to the scheme.
Kim Harrison, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, who represented survivors in the inquiry, said: ‘Sexual crimes do not have to be physically violent for it to upturn a child’s life, but this has been dismissed.’ Harrison said abuse survivors take longer than other crime victims to apply for redress, and extending the time limit would be a ‘very simple’ step.
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