Home Secretary Jack Straw announced proposed changes in the Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme (CICS) at Labour's Spring Conference in Glasgow.

The scheme is based on a tariff system that has been heavily criticised in such high profile cases like Lisa Potts, the teacher who shielded her students from a machete-wielding maniac at St. Luke's Church of England School in Wolverhampton and received multiple injuries including an almost severed arm but was paid only £49,784. Experts say that the same types of injuries would receive six-figure settlements in personal injury cases brought to court.

Straw said that most of the categories would be raised 10%. The minimum compensation for rape will be raised from £7500 to £11,000. Severe burns will be raised to £33,000 and loss of a hand or arm to £44,000. Straw told the gathering, "I want victims of crime to have a greater confidence that we are looking after their interests and listening to their concerns. Our action to change the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme demonstrates our commitment to ensure victims are better served by the criminal justice system, which for too long has overlooked their needs and interests."

One significant change is that gay couples will now enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples. If one of the partners is killed in a crime, the surviving partner will now be eligible to claim from the scheme. Other new changes included a £22,000 compensation for someone infected with HIV/AIDS because of a criminal offence.

The current system only allows for people with multiple injuries from a crime to claim for three of the injuries. In calculating the compensation the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), the people who run the fund, includes 100% of the stipulated tariff for the first injury, the second injury receives 10% of the tariff and the third injury receives 5%. Straw's proposed changes still have CICS paying out on three injuries but the second injury will now garner 30% of the tariff and the third injury will take 15% of the tariff.

The changes will raise the cost of the scheme by £20 million a year making the total paid out by the Home Office £220 million annually. Government claims that it is the most generous scheme of its kind in the world comparing the statistics from 1999/2000 when the US, which has a similar scheme, paid out £180 million to over 115,000 victims of crime and for the same year Britain paid out £206 million to 43,000 victims.

The proposed changes need to be passed by parliament and will likely be in effect after April 1st.