UK Parliament / Open data

Animals Act 1971 (Amendment) Bill

I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Mr. Crabb) on his success in bringing the Bill before the House. I wish to speak briefly in support of it. The Bill has been welcomed by people in various walks of life, particularly farmers, owners of equine centres and others who own non-dangerous animals, because of the lack of clarity in the 1971 Act, which we have already heard about. That lack of clarity means that folk in the situations that have been discussed, particularly farmers and owners of equine centres, face strict liability—and therefore risk paying potentially huge compensation claims—and massively inflated insurance premiums, even if there is no question of the owner being at fault. The increased premiums that have resulted from that uncertainty have undoubtedly put small businesses, including many farms and equine centres, at risk in my constituency in south Cumbria. Those running such small and relatively unprofitable outfits face not just a financial threat, which has a debilitating impact on the business, but damage from the anxiety and stress that that causes. We are not talking about wealthy people, by and large. In the south lakes area in my constituency, which includes not just parts of the Lake district but parts of the Yorkshire dales, there are many hill farmers under extreme financial pressure, on to whose land people come to go walking every week, and quite rightly. I do not want to get into foot and mouth, but the foot and mouth outbreak last year cost the average hill farmer in my constituency some £10,000, when their average income is probably half that normally. It is clearly debilitating for those people to face insurance premiums or the threat of paying such high compensation claims. We need to get away from that. We are not talking about people who are cavalier about their responsibilities, either. The aim of the Bill is to prevent unfair claims against people who have done all that they reasonably could to ensure safety. We have already heard that those who do not do that are covered by other avenues, and that should remain. Indeed, we would not want anyone who had suffered damage as a result of genuine negligence to have no recourse. That is not the aim of the Bill and it is certainly not mine in supporting it. Normal farm animals, domestic animals or horses that cause accidents when behaving in a characteristic fashion, when all reasonable steps to prevent the action have been taken, are subject to strict liability. That is unreasonable and debilitating, and not just for the businesses concerned. We are living in a litigious society, but let us just accept it: all outdoor activity comes with a risk. We can put ourselves in little bubbles if we want, or we can accept that all life comes with an element of risk. If the threat of strict liability, which has resulted from that lack of clarity, reduced—perhaps it already is reducing—the amount of outdoor activity undertaken, whether it be with animals or around animals, that would be a very sad consequence. The Bill will help to remove stress and anxiety from conscientious people who may otherwise fall victim to their animals causing damage to others, through no fault of their own. The Bill will also allow a proper focus on genuinely dangerous animals and genuine acts of negligence. I said that this would be a brief contribution and it will be. I finish by saying that the Bill will also signal an important victory for common sense, as it will mark a step back from our depressing slide towards an increasingly litigious society. For those reasons I support the Bill and commend it to the House.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
473 c528-9 
Session
2007-08
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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