Compensation Bill [Lords]

I hope that, with the debates going on here and in the other place and with the careful consideration of the judges, they do not get it wrong. However, I can tell my hon. Friend that the Department for Work and Pensions will be launching a Bill in the not too distant future. It is not for me to say at this stage, but if such a Bill were to be introduced, my hon. Friend and others would be able to lobby my colleagues in the DWP to establish whether further legislation was appropriate. To return to the new clause, it is undesirable in itself. It is worded in very general terms and could potentially extend to a range of other situations where no actual damage is apparent at the time an action is commenced or brought to trial. That could create confusion and uncertainty in the law and lead to extensive and costly litigation over the possible circumstances in which it applied. On new clause 8, prior to May 1987 service personnel were prevented from pursuing claims for compensation from the Ministry of Defence by section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947. Crown immunity prevented claims from being made prior to 1947, but section 10 was repealed by the Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987. Since the change in the law, which was not made retrospective, service personnel who suffer loss or injury as a result of negligence by the Ministry of Defence have been entitled to make common law claims for compensation. When compensation claims are submitted, they are considered on the basis of whether the Ministry of Defence has a legal liability to pay compensation. Where there is a legal liability to pay, compensation is paid. At the time of the passage of the 1987 Bill, the question of retrospection was debated and motions to allow members of the armed forces, past and present, to pursue claims for injury or death suffered in incidents since 1947 were moved, but either defeated or withdrawn. The prevailing view at the time was that, short of trying to cover all incidents and all types of injury going back to 1947, there was no logical point at which to draw a line, and that making the Act retrospective would create many new examples of unfairness and injustice. That clearly shows the difference between the retrospectivity that we are introducing in specific cases and more general retrospectivity, which is not the way forward. The perceived unfairness in the way in which claims for compensation from former service personnel suffering from an asbestos-related disease were handled was the subject of a review, the outcome of which was announced in 2001. Careful consideration was given to this apparent unfairness in compensation arrangements, and to the scope for providing additional help. However, the review demonstrated that compensation through war pensions and allowances or under the common law can be shown to be broadly comparable over time, and that there was therefore no general unfairness in the way in which these claims were handled. As it would be inequitable to treat this group in isolation in terms of common-law compensation, thereby creating many examples of unfairness and injustice, Ministers at the Ministry of Defence decided not to make any changes to the current arrangements, and that remains the Government’s view. On that basis, I hope that the House will support new clause 13 and attendant amendments, which will ensure that mesothelioma sufferers can get the compensation that they need and deserve. I also hope that other amendments will be withdrawn at the appropriate time.