Scrapping the "Same Roof" Rule

That the Parliament welcomes the UK Government announcement that it is scrapping the "same roof" rule; understands that the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme awards taxpayer-funded payments to victims injured as a result of violent crime, paying out over £150 million to victims in 2017-18; acknowledges that the "same roof" rule was part of the original scheme introduced in 1964; understands that the rule was intended to ensure that perpetrators would not benefit from compensation paid to victims that they lived with under the same roof; notes that it was amended in October 1979 so that future victims could claim compensation if they no longer lived with their attacker and were unlikely to do so again; recognises that, as is common with many changes to the law, this was not made retrospective, which meant some victims may have missed out on compensation if they were a victim of a violent crime before the law change; appreciates that one of the impetuses for change was the recent success of a South Lanarkshire woman’s appeal against the same roof rule at the Supreme Court; notes that the change will amend the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme so that all victims abused by someone that they lived with can reapply for compensation, regardless of when the attack took place; appreciates that this will mean that victims who may not have come forward because of the rule, or were previously denied awards under it, will be eligible to claim compensation with awards being made to those who meet the scheme’s other criteria, and believes that the change will have a major positive impact on victims of historic child sexual abuse who will particularly benefit from this change.