Compensation Bill [Lords]

I have sent my apologies for not being here for the Minister’s opening remarks. I want to register that I am a trustee of TimeBank, the largest volunteer organisation in Britain. Before 6 July last year, we were asked to do a volunteering exercise for the Olympics. We registered over 70,000 volunteers before 6 July, when we won the games. We have registered substantially more since. We will have approximately 85,000 to 100,000 volunteers in 2012. What correspondence has there been between the Minister, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Lord Coe on whether clause 1 will cover more than 100,000 volunteers? The Olympics will be a high security event and we will be asking volunteers to give up their time. I am not absolutely certain that, as it stands, they will be covered. I would also like to register that I am an ambassador for the Girl Guides—I shall return to the movement in a moment—and that I am co-chair, with the hon. Members for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) and for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik), of the all-party group on the matter. The noble Baroness Ashton has given the group exceptional time—more than four hours—to examine clause 1 in huge detail. The Minister also saw us recently and I thank her for that. We cannot complain about the time and access we have had, but we would like the Government to think about ““will”” and ““shall””, which the hon. Member for Canterbury mentioned. I want to mention the iceberg effect. A dear friend who gave evidence in confidence has a small castle. One particular American tourist went over a rough bridge in stiletto heels, and guess what? She twisted her ankle, and sued the owner of the castle. And guess what? Because the owner of the castle is a reasonably famous person, they did not want the law suit and settled out of court for £8,000. This is completely and utterly obscene. The scouts, guides, yachtsmen and the Territorial Army are sick to death of going to court and spending £15,000 to £100,000 a case; that money is gone but they have had to spend it. The Chancellor has asked for a volunteer community; we want over 500,000 volunteers over the next ten years. We have to secure the legal framework for these people. When I went to Oxford as a very old man, a wonderful chap called Andy Widdowson broke his neck playing rugby. When he broke his neck, his parents did not sue the referee, the college, the rugby club or the Rugby Football Union; they were just concerned about the well-being of their son. We were, too, and we raised over £60,000 for him, in 1981 figures. In Wales recently, a boy aged 15 broke his neck playing rugby. Whom did the parents sue? Was it the Welsh Rugby Union? No; amazingly. Was it the Welsh Schools Rugby Union? No; extraordinarily. Was it the school? No. Was it the coach? No. It was the referee, and they won. This is ridiculous and absurd. We have to allow risk in life and we have to find a way in clause 1 to cover exercise. We have all talked about obesity rates and there is 70 per cent. less activity among schoolchildren than there was 30 years ago. How on earth are we going to solve that if we do not solve the risk element of clause 1? That is fundamental. Remember, the girl guides have 600,000 members, and there are 50,000 girls on the waiting list because it needs 8,000 more volunteers. There are not the volunteers to come forward for the girl guides, which is crackers—absolutely nuts. We must resolve this issue in clause 1. Finally, the hon. Member for Canterbury and I have looked at the American states, Western Australia and so on. Philosophically, at some other stage, we must come back and redefine what we mean by national insurance. We established it in the 1940s, and it is inappropriate for a modern society not to take a legal position on insurance for covering volunteers.