Readers of this blog will be aware that the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board in Northern Ireland (“the HIA Redress Board”) is responsible for receiving and processing applications for compensation from those who experienced abuse in residential institutions in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1995. The HIA Redress Board was established following recommendations made by the Historic Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIAI) and was created by legislation rushed through the UK Parliament before the pre-Brexit proroguing. 

The HIA Redress Board opened for applications on 31 March 2020, for five years.

The last date on which an application can be received by the HIA Redress Board is 2 April 2025. 

The HIA Redress Board can make payments of redress between £10,000 and £100,000 depending on circumstances.

When it was being set up, official forecasting predicted that as many as 5,000 people would likely be eligible for compensation in recognition of the abuse that they suffered in institutions, organisations or care homes in Northern Ireland and the cost of the redress was estimated to be in the region of £114 million.

In early February 2025, the HIA Redress Board published its Key Performance Summary as of 31 December 2024.

What is of interest from this summary is how official forecasting in terms of the number of applications and likely costs of redress in Northern Ireland have been so accurate, when compared with other National Redress Schemes.

As of 31 December 2024, the Redress Board has:

  • Received 4,870 applications and final determinations have been made in 4,449 of those applications.
  • Redress Board panels have made award determinations totalling £99,244,250, which following actuarial adjustments, £98,109,425 is payable to applicants.
  • Redress Board has received 695 Notices of Appeal, 672 of which have been considered by a single judicial member. 214 have been upheld and 458 dismissed confirming the panel decision. Three appeals are currently being processed and the remaining 20 were withdrawn.

On average, over the five-year period, 70% of applications have been received from those aged between 50 and 69.

Unusually as things stand the HIA Redress Board has not seen a surge in numbers at the later end of the scheme, which has been a strong feature of other National Redress Schemes, the number of applications received over the five-year period are as follows:

  • 2020-21 – 1,273 applications received
  • 2021-22 – 1,283 application received
  • 2022-23 – 1,055 applications received
  • 2023-24 – 787 applications received
  • 2024- 25 – 472 applications received, though this figure does not cover Quarter 4 of this year

Another interesting feature of the work of the HIA Redress Scheme is that 50% of the awards of redress made to date fall within Band 2 (£10,001 and £29,999), while a further 23% fall within Band 3 (£30,000 and £49,999). 

Only 3% of awards of redress awarded fell within the highest band, Band 5, being £70,000 to £80,000.

There are 761 applications where no award of redress was made by the HIA Redress Scheme for the following reasons:

  • 13 – Contradictory evidence
  • 114 – No jurisdiction
  • 634 – Threshold not met

Processing times for applications seem highly efficient. For all applications, first considered by a panel to date in 2024-25, the average time from receipt of the application to the first panel consideration was 35 working days. For applications that were complete on receipt was 34 working days and for those that were incomplete increases to 39 working days.

Only 10 complaints have been received since 31 March 2020 up until 31 December 2024.

While there is still time for a surge in applications to the HIA Redress Scheme, the pattern of application over the lifetime of the scheme to date, makes this unlikely and it appears that on the existing data the HIA Redress Scheme will complete its work within the forecasts referred to above. 

If a National Redress Scheme is established in England and Wales as per IICSA’s recommendation, then it appears that there will be much to learn in this jurisdiction from the experience of those who established and operated the HIA Redress Scheme.