Compensation Bill [Lords]

I understand that, which is why I think that we should cut the knot. The matter is before the courts, but there is no reason why we cannot intervene. The situation is paradoxical. We are having a substantial debate about whether a Bill states what the law is or what we think it ought to be in the cases of people who have suffered. Whatever the law is, I believe that Parliament is at liberty, indeed has a duty, to decide what should happen, because there are people outside—constituents and their families—who are waiting for us to do that. Having heard the earlier exchanges, I suppose that I should make a declaration, although it is not a formal declaration. On the edge of my constituency is the headquarters of the Health and Safety Executive. I have an interest in looking after the interests of the HSE, but it did not lobby me before the debate. Having said that, I shall probably need to talk to it about the Bill fairly soon. I want to make a couple of general points about the context of the Bill. I am grateful for having been given the opportunity to talk through with the Minister the Government’s approach when she took up her responsibilities and I took up mine. Although the Bill is small, it deals with what a lot of people consider to be big issues—issues that arise all the time. This is real politics that matters in the real world. I did not previously know the figures, but there appears to be no dispute that we are talking about a business that is worth £10 billion a year: in other words, 1 per cent. of our gross domestic product is circulating in the compensation industry. There are two serious flaws in the current system. First, the various accidents and injuries that occur—collisions, incidents in the park, incidents on trips with scouts or guides—total some £2 billion a year in claimants’ legal costs. Much worse—this figure astounded me, but I have not seen it contradicted—more than 90p in the pound of the money that one gets back in damages is spent on costs. [Interruption.] My hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) says that that is not right, but even if that figure is too high, this is still a significant issue. Pursuing what is a legal entitlement in civil law to appropriate compensation is often a hugely expensive exercise. So there are many issues to resolve and much work to do on the question of gaining access to justice in the civil world in a fair society.