|
OT 392: Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from Chris Bryant MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
pitcairn compensation scheme
You will be aware that my predecessor as
Minister for the Merron, established a mechanism to compensate the victims of past child sex abuse on Pitcairn identified during Operation Unique. I attach a copy of the Written Ministerial Statement[1] announcing the scheme last October.
I thought you would be interested to hear that the scheme has now concluded. A total of just over £160,000 has been awarded to eight women who suffered criminal sexual abuse on Pitcairn, and who cooperated with the authorities in bringing the assailants to justice. We actively publicised the scheme through appropriate sources and directly targeted women who we believed would be eligible. Eight out of the nine women we expected to apply subsequently applied and have all accepted awards as full and final settlement.
I am writing separately to Carole Oatway, Chief Executive of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to thank her for the valuable assistance provided by CICA in administering the scheme.
21 July 2009 [1] See HC Deb, 9 October 2008, col 19WS |