UK Parliament / Open data

Compensation Bill (HL)

Debate on bills on Monday, 17 July 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Bridget Prentice. The answering member was Oliver Heald.

Compensation Bill (HL). Report stage and Third reading debate. Agreed to on question. Passed with amendments.

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

449 c39-122

Session

2005-06

Department

Department for Constitutional Affairs

Legislative stage

Third reading and Report stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Compensation Bill (HL) . Brought from Lords. Explanatory notes Bill 155-EN also published.
Monday, 27 March 2006
Bills
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Lord Mann | 449 c81-3 (Link to this contribution) If one were always the optimist, one would say that signing that agreement led directly to the Compe...

Lord Beamish | 449 c83 (Link to this contribution) I concur with my hon. Friend’s comments that the Law Society is getting better, but is not one of th...

Show all contributions (169)

Lord Mann | 449 c83-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. The reason for that is that many people fear that, when they sign a contrac...

David Leslie Taylor | 449 c85 (Link to this contribution) What my hon. Friend describes so vividly and helpfully is possibly legal but morally reprehensible a...

Oliver Heald | 449 c81 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman arguing that where membership does not include associate members, all the abus...

Lord Mann | 449 c81 (Link to this contribution) No, the issue is very straightforward. The UDM charged a fee. Let me explain how it worked, as it is...

Michael Clapham | 449 c81 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the signing of that separate agreement was the basis of many of the p...

Lord Mann | 449 c85 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend’s constituents are happy, that is all right. If the firm is Moss solicitors, I hav...

Lord Beamish | 449 c85-6 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that it is not only a scandal of solicitors and specific unions that have ...

Lord Mann | 449 c86 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. However, a disparity exists. Some of the solicitors who charged have provid...

Oliver Heald | 449 c77 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I am too suspicious. I accept that the figure of £10 million relates to Raleys and the examp...

Lord Mann | 449 c77-8 (Link to this contribution) I shall start by rebutting the tongue in cheek but mischievous remarks made by the hon. Member for N...

Oliver Heald | 449 c76-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should come with me to the annual awards for the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year. Th...

Lord Beamish | 449 c77 (Link to this contribution) May I clarify what the hon. Gentleman has said about £10 million? I suspect that in the case of Durh...

Oliver Heald | 449 c76 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend and the hon. Gentleman make an important point. If we put any other class or category...

David Hamilton | 449 c76 (Link to this contribution) I have listened carefully to the hon. Gentleman. Can he give me an example of any other panhandlers ...

Lord Beamish | 449 c79 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that that could also extend to the relationship between trade unions and s...

Lord Beamish | 449 c78 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that this is a crucial point, given that certain unions—for example, Durha...

Lord Mann | 449 c78-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The scandal of what happened with miners’ compensation is that u...

Oliver Heald | 449 c73 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept what my right hon. Friend says. The Select Committee took the view that everybody who...

Lord Beamish | 449 c73 (Link to this contribution) I agree with some of the hon. Gentleman’s points, and I have some criticisms to make of the draft co...

Lord Mann | 449 c74 (Link to this contribution) When reading the code of conduct, it is always good to put in the words ““Union of Democratic Minewo...

Lord Beamish | 449 c75 (Link to this contribution) Some would suggest that the Law Society has been the best trade union in history in terms of looking...

Oliver Heald | 449 c75 (Link to this contribution) It is true. To its credit, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has heard those cases and made those...

Lord Mann | 449 c75 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman mentioned decisions of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Does that not highli...

Oliver Heald | 449 c75 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I do not have much of a dispute. We agree that there should be firm punishmen...

Lord Deben | 449 c75-6 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend take the point made by the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann), which is a goo...

Oliver Heald | 449 c69 (Link to this contribution) That is a helpful assurance. Is the Minister able to give any indication of the time scale for the c...

Lord Wills | 449 c68 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to the debate. I apologise f...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c68-9 (Link to this contribution) This has been a very good, purposeful debate. I am grateful to all hon. Members for their support fo...

Oliver Heald | 449 c70 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Speaker | 449 c70-1 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 2—Offence of contravening speci...

Simon Hughes | 449 c70 (Link to this contribution) That is very helpful. If any last-minute drafting amendments were needed, either on the point put to...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c70 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that suggestion. If we need to do anything else to be absolutely convinced that on...

Oliver Heald | 449 c71-3 (Link to this contribution) New clause 1 would ensure a statutory basis for the conditions in clause 5, so that a decision to ex...

Lord Deben | 449 c73 (Link to this contribution) The regulations from which the trade unions are exempt are not onerous, but they are necessary to pr...

Lord McFall of Alcluith | 449 c65-7 (Link to this contribution) I support new clause 13 and endorse the actions that have been taken since the House of Lords judgme...

Frank Doran | 449 c64-5 (Link to this contribution) I add my congratulations to those already given to the Minister by my colleagues. I draw attention t...

David Anderson | 449 c67-8 (Link to this contribution) May I add my thanks to the Minister and congratulate her on coming forward with a speedy response? I...

Oliver Heald | 449 c60 (Link to this contribution) I have already set out one or two examples, but I should like to give another—the measles, mumps and...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c59-60 (Link to this contribution) Having been foreshadowed by the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald), I remind the H...

David Howarth | 449 c63-4 (Link to this contribution) I remind the House of the interest I declared on Second Reading, which is that I occasionally receiv...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c61-2 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree that my new clause would have that effect. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that MMR ...

Oliver Heald | 449 c56 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows as well as I do that the Government set up the compensation scheme followin...

Simon Hughes | 449 c57-9 (Link to this contribution) May I first pay warm tribute to the hon. Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham)? He, ...

Michael Clapham | 449 c56 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be aware that when we were arguing for such a scheme, his party in governmen...

Lembit Opik | 449 c113 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister and pleased that she has researched the matter. She knows that a numbe...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c113-4 (Link to this contribution) I can confidently give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 will cover...

Philip Hollobone | 449 c114 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister appreciate that companies with a good reputation in this field, such as the Nation...

Lembit Opik | 449 c114 (Link to this contribution) This will be my third and final intervention in the entire debate on the Bill. I am grateful for the...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c114-5 (Link to this contribution) I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we will take into account the position of the smaller companies...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c112 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. As the House knows, the Bill is part of a ...

Oliver Heald | 449 c106 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for her helpful assurances about advertising, which is an important issue. Ther...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c103-6 (Link to this contribution) I thought that I had just made it as patently clear as I possibly could that, if the trade union fal...

Oliver Heald | 449 c103 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister knows, if complaints are made against ordinary claims handling companies—not trade u...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c102 (Link to this contribution) Concern about trade union exemptions has been a key issue in our debates on Second Reading, in Commi...

Speaker | 449 c101 (Link to this contribution) I understand the point that the hon. Gentleman is making, but it is not within the power of the occu...

Simon Hughes | 449 c101 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am conscious of the fact that we have had debates on tw...

Lembit Opik | 449 c112 (Link to this contribution) The Minister will recall that in Committee we had a fairly extensive debate about whether we should ...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c113 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman and sorry that we did not reach that part of the debate. In Comm...

Julian Brazier | 449 c112 (Link to this contribution) Conscious of the fact that Hansard is now usable by lawyers in a court, can the Minister confirm wha...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c112 (Link to this contribution) I can confirm to the hon. Gentleman that the court would be expected to take into account all the is...

Philip Hollobone | 449 c99 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman that the Bill would be successful if it drove unscrupulous claims ma...

Lord Beamish | 449 c95-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree totally with my hon. Friend. It is important that during the consultation trade unions think...

Lord Mann | 449 c100 (Link to this contribution) More than that.

Lord Beamish | 449 c99-100 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not. If people want legal advice, they should go directly to solicitors and cut out the mid...

David Hamilton | 449 c94 (Link to this contribution) In many cases throughout the United Kingdom, that will apply not only to retired members but to thei...

Lord Beamish | 449 c94 (Link to this contribution) That may be so, but the hon. Gentleman has been a good advocate on the company’s behalf tonight. I a...

Lord Mann | 449 c95 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent and pertinent point. Does he agree that, as a consequence of that ...

Lord Beamish | 449 c94-5 (Link to this contribution) I have no problem with that. It is a good example of a trade union not just supporting its retired m...

Lord Beamish | 449 c100 (Link to this contribution) And more, as my hon. Friend says. I cannot see why Durham NUM could not have received a success fee ...

Lord Beamish | 449 c101 (Link to this contribution) I agree. I have no problem with that, but I challenge Durham NUM to publish a breakdown of what it h...

Speaker | 449 c93 (Link to this contribution) That is not a point of order for the Chair, but at least the correct information is now on the recor...

Lord Deben | 449 c91-3 (Link to this contribution) I declare an interest as the independent chairman of the Association of Independent Financial Advise...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c90-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has had plenty of time to make his point. I am going to try to make mine briefly. Ge...

Lord Mann | 449 c90 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend give way on that point?

Andrew Dismore | 449 c90 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. The fact is that the UDM was a rogue union to start with, and has behav...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c93 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. As the hon. Gentleman has made that point, I want to expl...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c93 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Lord Beamish | 449 c93 (Link to this contribution) As someone who was a full-time trade union officer for 13 years, I am fully aware of the vital work ...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c93 (Link to this contribution) That was in 1995.

Andrew Dismore | 449 c89-90 (Link to this contribution) I rise to speak to new clause 10, which stands in my name. I have no objection to claims handlers be...

Simon Hughes | 449 c89 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention, which I am sure that you have heard, Mr. ...

Lord Mann | 449 c86-7 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether my hon. Friend made the point that he wanted to make because, in the case of t...

David Leslie Taylor | 449 c86 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend see a parallel, in the links and good relations that apparently exist between th...

Lembit Opik | 449 c87-8 (Link to this contribution) I have been considering the arguments that have been put forward on exemptions, and I wonder whether...

Simon Hughes | 449 c87 (Link to this contribution) The speech of the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) means that I do not need to comment on new c...

David Hamilton | 449 c88 (Link to this contribution) If there were an exemption for small companies whose turnover was below a certain threshold, what wo...

Simon Hughes | 449 c88 (Link to this contribution) That is a perfectly proper question for my hon. Friend to ask. My view is always that there ought to...

Oliver Heald | 449 c89 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman accept my joining him in his plea that we should be allowed to vote on these...

Simon Hughes | 449 c88-9 (Link to this contribution) We need to discuss that balance. I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. Looking at this from the p...

Michael Clapham | 449 c90 (Link to this contribution) I take my hon. Friend’s view that trade unions have been agencies for the betterment of society. As ...

Oliver Heald | 449 c115-6 (Link to this contribution) The Bill has been improved during in its passage through Parliament. I join in the thanks to the two...

Simon Hughes | 449 c117 (Link to this contribution) I hope that we have not lost the watching millions as a result of our tightly argued case for the le...

Julian Brazier | 449 c116-7 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and for his earlier back-handed tribute. Th...

Julian Brazier | 449 c118 (Link to this contribution) The experience of this Bill has been valuable, and we have produced a modest but worthwhile piece of...

Michael Clapham | 449 c118 (Link to this contribution) This is a small but significant Bill. Part 2 was obviously needed, as we have seen chaos develop aft...

Julian Brazier | 449 c118-9 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to my hon. Friend. I thank the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (S...

Oliver Heald | 449 c118 (Link to this contribution) Unwittingly, I did not congratulate my hon. Friend in my Third Reading remarks, although I have done...

Julian Brazier | 449 c119 (Link to this contribution) I am really embarrassed by that. I thank the hon. Gentleman. I must allow time for others to speak;...

Stephen Pound | 449 c119 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for interrupting the hon. Gentleman, and I realise that there is a certain element of mu...

Jim McGovern | 449 c120 (Link to this contribution) Surely the hon. Gentleman recognises that the reason why many of the solicitors have such an unsavou...

Philip Hollobone | 449 c120 (Link to this contribution) I have approached the Bill from an unusual perspective. My constituency contains a company called Na...

Lord Beamish | 449 c119-20 (Link to this contribution) This has been described as a small Bill, but I believe that it will have a dramatic effect outside t...

Speaker | 449 c122 (Link to this contribution) With permission, I shall take motions 1 to 8 together.

Andrew Dismore | 449 c121-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. I am pleased that the Minister has come forward with an app...

David Leslie Taylor | 449 c121 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend welcome, as I do, the qualified exemption that trade unions have? Would he state...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c121 (Link to this contribution) I think I have to pour a little rain on the parade, particularly in relation to clause 1. It is a pi...

Philip Hollobone | 449 c120-1 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. That point has been well made throughout the proceedings on the Bill—but the point is th...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c52 (Link to this contribution) Let me clear up the matter once and for all and add to the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for...

Oliver Heald | 449 c52 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should not talk in terms of conspiracy theories. That always worries me. Let us c...

Oliver Heald | 449 c53 (Link to this contribution) I must make some progress. The hon. Gentleman has much on the selection list and we will hear from h...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c53 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Oliver Heald | 449 c52 (Link to this contribution) The Under-Secretary knows that I have the highest opinion of her kindness and consideration. I am su...

Michael Clapham | 449 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for introducing the new clause, which will restore fairness wher...

Oliver Heald | 449 c55 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will correct me if I am wrong, but it will take the courts many a long year to wo...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c55 (Link to this contribution) Of course not, but my amendment refers to the lodging of a substance, whereas the hon. Gentleman’s e...

Oliver Heald | 449 c53-5 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman will know, discussions are continuing. I understand that one of the suggestion...

Frank Doran | 449 c52 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a mountain out of a molehill. He knows that, before Barker, the Fairchild c...

Chris Bryant | 449 c49 (Link to this contribution) But if the judges get it wrong, which they seem to do quite often, what legislative remedy would be ...

Oliver Heald | 449 c50-1 (Link to this contribution) We welcome new clause 13, which will overturn the recent judgment in Barker v. Corus. We are dealing...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c49-50 (Link to this contribution) I hope that, with the debates going on here and in the other place and with the careful consideratio...

Oliver Heald | 449 c51 (Link to this contribution) Ministers suggested in meetings that this was all to do with the insurance industry, but in fact the...

Oliver Heald | 449 c52 (Link to this contribution) That is extraordinarily difficult to do because the cases will not peak until 2020 and the disease i...

Simon Hughes | 449 c52 (Link to this contribution) I share the hon. Gentleman’s view of the strange history of these matters. One of his colleagues ask...

Oliver Heald | 449 c52 (Link to this contribution) I heard a similar figure. The Government will doubtless be considering their liability, Department b...

John Greenway | 449 c52 (Link to this contribution) The all-party insurance and financial services group was briefed on the matter only last Tuesday. Th...

Michael Clapham | 449 c48 (Link to this contribution) Has my hon. Friend any idea of the number of cases that may have gone through the courts in the peri...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c48-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has raised that case with me before. We have tried to find out how many cases there a...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c47-8 (Link to this contribution) I will discuss the retrospective aspects of the proposal shortly. The ABI has been helpful, and we h...

Simon Hughes | 449 c47 (Link to this contribution) The Minister knows that I welcome the initiative, about which I shall say more later. When she secur...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c47 (Link to this contribution) When we consider other parts of the Bill, my hon. Friend will find out what we are doing to exempt s...

Jim Sheridan | 449 c47 (Link to this contribution) On the subject of the Treasury, my hon. Friend knows that many voluntary organisations are involved ...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c45-6 (Link to this contribution) No, I regret that I cannot give the right hon. Gentleman a figure for the sum that would be paid out...

John Redwood | 449 c45 (Link to this contribution) Can the Minister give us an idea of how much in total might be paid out if the new clause goes throu...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c45 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend points out the absence of SNP Members, but it does not surprise me, as they rarely co...

David Hamilton | 449 c45 (Link to this contribution) I, too, congratulate the Minister and her officials on the manner in which they took the Bill throug...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c44 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and I hope later to reassure him that we are making sure tha...

John Greenway | 449 c44 (Link to this contribution) I, too, thank the Minister for the speedy way in which she has responded to this problem, which domi...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c44-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. Officials are working on that issue, virtually as we speak. H...

Tony Lloyd | 449 c43 (Link to this contribution) May I too congratulate my hon. Friend on this important step? Although she is absolutely right to em...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c43 (Link to this contribution) I do not accept the hon. Gentleman’s version of what will happen as a result of the amendments. If h...

Chris Bryant | 449 c44 (Link to this contribution) Those of us who last week heard the Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform make a commitment to ...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c43-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very important point. That is why we have tabled the amendments. The very fac...

David Howarth | 449 c42 (Link to this contribution) I fear that the Minister has missed one important part of the argument in the Barker case: it extend...

David Howarth | 449 c43 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for giving way again, because this is a very important point. There ar...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c43 (Link to this contribution) In one sense the law will go back to before Barker—to Fairchild, which represents the position that ...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c42 (Link to this contribution) In the 2002 case of Fairchild, the House of Lords decided that someone who had contracted mesothelio...

Speaker | 449 c42 (Link to this contribution) Order. That is a matter for debate, rather than a point of order for the Chair.

Oliver Heald | 449 c42 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Is it in order for the Minister to misrepresent the posit...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c42 (Link to this contribution) If I may, I would like to get past the first sentence of my speech. I will give way again shortly. ...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c41 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to be introducing new clause 13 and related Government amendments Nos. 7 to 10, which...

Lord Field of Birkenhead | 449 c41 (Link to this contribution) The Minister rightly talks about her pleasure in moving the new clause. That pleasure is widely felt...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c41-2 (Link to this contribution) I am disappointed that the hon. Gentleman is trying to make juvenile points—[Interruption.] If he is...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c41 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his intervention, especially because I want to ensure that...

Oliver Heald | 449 c41 (Link to this contribution) Of course we welcome the new clause and amendments. However, how would the Minister respond to a let...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c40 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Speaker | 449 c40-1 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 6—Mesothelioma Compensation Bo...

Oliver Heald | 449 c73-4 (Link to this contribution) Yes, the penalty on which the Minister relied was the notion that if there were breaches of the code...

Simon Hughes | 449 c116 (Link to this contribution) The Bill started as a measure of one part, grew to one of two parts and ended up as one of three par...

Lord Mann | 449 c79-81 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is correct. Indeed, transparency is in the interests of the trade union and the solic...

Oliver Heald | 449 c74-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right. I was simply quoting what the Minister told us about the TUC in Committ...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c114 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman has been assiduous in his support for the company in his consti...

David Hamilton | 449 c100-1 (Link to this contribution) For clarification, let me say that the issue of knee litigation has been on the cards for some years...

Lord Beamish | 449 c93 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has made the point for me. He has a clear connection with Thompsons, a company th...

Andrew Dismore | 449 c53 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has not made it clear who would foot the bill for the scheme that he proposes. Is...

John Redwood | 449 c51 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing this conundrum before the House. He might be right that...

Bridget Prentice | 449 c69-70 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I cannot do so, although it has been put to the committee that the matter must be d...

Lord Beamish | 449 c93 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not.

Subjects

Complaints

Compensation

Codes of practice

Courts

Damages

Advertising

Coal

Asbestos

Legal profession

Employment