Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2008

My Lords, I hope that I can be relatively brief. On Monday, my honourable friend David Burrowes debated this at some length with the Minister’s colleagues in another place. Most of his questions about consultation were dealt with on that occasion, so I want to add only a couple of points. First, to pick up one of the Minister’s last remarks, he talked about the increase in awards for dental treatment for damaged teeth. If people have to pay a lot more for restorative work for teeth, that seems to suggest that there are considerable failings in NHS dental services on that front. I would be interested in his comments on that. My second point, which is more substantive, is about the various orders relating to the transfer of tribunal functions, which I understand we will be dealing with on our first day back, 6 October. The Minister will be aware that I recently saw his colleague, Mrs Bridget Prentice, about those orders because of some concerns that we have had about them. Mrs Prentice promised that there would be further consultation on those orders and said that they might have to be relaid—nothing to do with the criminal injuries compensation scheme, but purely in relation to Pensions Appeal Tribunals and matters relating to war pensioners. If they are not amended and there are disruptions, as it were, in this House and the orders do not go through, what will happen to the scheme that we are going to agree to on this occasion, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2008? It is important that the Minister addresses this question. The two have to go together. It is important that we have the new tribunals in place, but, as the Minister is well aware, we cannot amend those orders if there are problems with the Pensions Appeal Tribunals when we come to discuss this on our first day back. My next question for the Minister is, I appreciate, a difficult one. His department, in its Explanatory Memorandum, which is good and very clear, reckons that compensation claims amount to something in the order of £200 million a year. He was quite right to emphasise the generosity of the scheme that is in place now and how it compares with similar schemes in the United States. I appreciate that he cannot say whether the Government estimate that the scheme will increase in future, but it would be helpful if he could tell us how much it has grown over the years and how much of that growth is due to inflation and how much to a growth in the number of claims. That is, what is inflation and what is an increase in crime or perhaps an increase in awareness of the scheme and the fact that people feel that they have an entitlement to claim on that front? I leave the Minister with those questions and I would be grateful if he would assist me when he comes to reply.