London riots compensation still not paid to 130 claimants

 
London riots: violence on streets could be repeated because of rise in poverty, head of the Red Cross has warned
PA
Staff|Agency4 January 2014
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

More than 130 people who claimed compensation following the London riots in 2011 are yet to receive a single penny, Labour has said.

The Opposition said of all claims, less than 16% of the requested cash has been paid out more than two years after violence and looting broke out across the capital.

Shadow home office minister Steve Reed uncovered the figures through freedom of information requests to the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Reed said the figures showed Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson had broken promises made to riot victims.

He said: "With the eyes of the country on him, David Cameron promised the victims of the riots they would not be forgotten and would not be left out of pocket.

"It's disgraceful there are still residents and business owners in London facing financial hardship because they have received either too little compensation or nothing at all.

"I have repeatedly asked the Prime Minister if he will meet with the riot victims who feel abandoned and ignored by the Government and the Mayor of London.

"David Cameron has failed to keep his promise to the victims, the very least he could do is meet them, look them in the eye and explain why."

The figures released by the Metropolitan Police showed 3,447 claims had been made by March 31, 2013, and 3,535 claims by November 6, 2013.

By March 31, 2013, £250.1 million had been claimed, and by November 6, 2013, claims had reached £299 million.

Cash totals paid out by the Metropolitan Police were £35.8 million (14.3%) on March 31, 2013, and £46.9 million (15.7%) on November 6, 2013.

The total number of outstanding claims on November 6, 2013, was 133.

All the claims were made under the Riots Damages Act 1886.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in