Compensation Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 7:"After Clause 1, insert the following new clause—" ““INTERPRETATION OF ““CLAIM”” IN PART 1    For the purposes of this Part, ““claim”” means— (a)   a claim for damages in respect of personal injury or death, and (b)   any other claim of a kind prescribed by order of the Secretary of State.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, the amendment is an adaptation of the amendment that I tabled in Grand Committee, where we argued that Clause 1 should properly be limited to claims for personal injury only. In the amendment we have attempted to link Clause 1 with Part 2 of the Bill, believing that there is a single purpose behind the Bill of sending an unequivocal and public message that frivolous claims and those who promote them will not be tolerated. We have therefore sought to link that provision to Part 2 by giving the Secretary of State the power to prescribe other areas of application apart from personal injury. That will also retain the flexibility that the Government are keen to keep in place. I beg to move.