To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister, in relation to live cases with the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme, to detail how many days from initial application that the longest running case has been awaiting a decision.

The progress of each application is dependent on the provision of supporting information from external organisations, which is outside of the control of the Victims’ Payments Board (VPB). Applications progress through the various stages of the Scheme at different rates. Given the historical nature of the subject matter, the passage of time makes certain records difficult or impossible to retrieve. The VPB are often dealing with incidents that happened up to 50 years ago.

It is also important to highlight that approximately one in three applications have multiple incidents with varying levels of detail to set against the tests required by the legislation that underpin the Scheme. Each incident requires both verification of eligibility and evidence and requires a separate determination, which can take a considerable amount of time to process.

Delays also occur where an application form is incomplete, supporting evidence is missing or there are gaps in incident disclosure etc.

Application processing includes but is not limited to; verification checks, evidence gathering, and a medical assessment. The average processing time may be impacted by the provision of medical information from GPs and Health Trusts which enable the completion of a medical assessment (carried out by Capita).