Compensation Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 76A:"Page 7, line 12, at end insert ““but such order shall be made not later than six months after the day on which this Act receives Royal Assent””" The noble Lord said: In moving Amendment No. 76A, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 76B. In these two alternative amendments, which deal with the commencement provisions, I am inviting the Minister to be more specific about the speed with which this regime is brought into place. As we have just been discussing, we have still not seen the draft regulations and there is no definite date as to when they will be laid before the House or made available for scrutiny. It may be that a commencement order cannot be made until the regulations have been drafted, but that is all the more reason for us to see those regulations now. I sense that the Minister agrees that we have a need for urgent action, and this is a chance for her to say what she means by the word ““urgent””. I know that the noble Baroness is an avid reader of Insurance Times and she will no doubt have seen the piece in last Thursday’s edition headed:"““Claims regulator for October start””." The piece continues:"““The government aims to have its new claims management regulator up and running by October. Baroness Ashton revealed the timetable during a House of Lords debate this week on the Compensation Bill””." My recollection is that the noble Baroness said:"““My personal ambition is to have everything ready by October. That is a personal ambition at this stage, but it is in recognition of the points made consistently by noble Lords about the need to move as swiftly as we possibly can””.—[Official Report, 16/1/06; col. 148.]" The Committee needs to know exactly when this personal ambition hardened into a departmental objective. I am sure we are about to hear the answer. I beg to move.