Compensation Bill [Lords]

Perhaps I am too suspicious. I accept that the figure of £10 million relates to Raleys and the example in The Times. The hon. Gentleman is right: £3 million is the figure that he put on what happened in Durham—but that is still a lot of money. The way in which the matter is working out is extremely worrying. I will be interested to hear the hon. Gentleman’s explanation for new clause 11, which is an important contribution. As I have said, it is not right to exempt anybody, but if one does so, it should involve a proper statutory scheme and proper enforcement—some teeth. The Government proposal does not include any enforcement, which I believe is quite deliberate. Amendment No. 5 concerns the advertising code of practice. The Bill provides that there should be a code of practice to cover claims management services. Much of the advertising used by claims management companies is targeted at the less well-off, and the document, ““Better Routes to Redress””, which was prepared by the Better Regulation Commission, includes examples. One advertisement featured a young women looking at a sports car and saying, ““I’ve always wanted one of those, and now I’ve had an accident I can have one.”” The document rightly concludes that such advertising is entirely inappropriate in personal injury cases, where damages are limited and aimed at putting clients back in the position in which they would have been if they had not suffered wrong. I can provide numerous other examples, and I hope that the Minister will assure us that the code of practice for claims management companies will cover the sort of appalling advertising to which I have referred.