Clause 5 - Compensation for financial loss
Children and Adoption Bill [Lords]
3:15 pm
Beverley Hughes (Minister of State (Children, Young People and Families), Department for Education and Skills; Stretford and Urmston, Labour)
I appreciate the intention to be helpful that lies behind the amendments, although I shall seek to convince the hon. Gentleman that they are not necessary.
Amendment No. 50 may not be practicable, because the insertion of “significant” would cause several difficulties. First, and technically, it would contradict the model normally used in civil cases, where no lower limit is set. We would therefore be relying on the applicant to guess what might be considered significant by the court. Some applicants who might have been awarded compensation could be deterred from making an application if they had to second-guess what the threshold of significant might be and how it would be interpreted by the court.
Secondly, what is significant to one person may be insignificant to another. It would be difficult to set an absolute figure that would help members of the public guess what the threshold might be. I certainly agree with the spirit of the amendment, which is that frivolous claims should not be made, but most people will think seriously about whether to instigate legal proceedings and will not take such decisions lightly. Courts can deal with claims that are frivolous or vexatious.
I agree with the spirit of the suggestion that an application for an amount of compensation should be significant to the applicant. However, we cannot determine in advance what will be significant because people’s financial circumstances vary, particularly after a divorce or separation, when a lot of other factors have to be considered in addition to the amount of money to which someone might have access when determining their disposable income.
I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman on the question of compensatory contact, because I do not agree with the concept enshrined in it—that the child is a commodity, whose time can be used to punish one parent and reward the other. Where there has been financial loss, the compensation sought should be financial and directly in relation to that loss. The child should not be used in that way.
I know that amendment No. 8 was drafted on the basis of common sense. If someone has to apply for a compensation order because the actions of another have cost them money, it certainly seems appropriate that a court should be able to consider whether the party in breach should be asked to meet the costs of the application. However, the amendment is unnecessary, because the courts already have the power in all proceedings to award costs to one of the parties. When financial compensation orders are available, and if the courts have decided to award financial compensation, they will consider more frequently, in relation to these specific matters, whether they should also consider awarding costs.