Clause 1
Compensation Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
Angela Watkinson (Whip, Whips; Upminster, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 11, in page 1, line 4, leave out ‘may' and insert ‘shall'.
What a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Caton. I am introducing the amendment as my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hertfordshire has to leave our proceedings before the debate is likely to conclude. The amendment is small. It is an attempt to move the power of the court from a discretionary to a mandatory power. In its report “Better Routes to Redress”, the Better Regulation Commission concluded that the compensation culture is a myth. However, the cost of belief in it is real. I agreed with that conclusion and therefore support the principle of clause 1.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs report “Effects of advertising in respect of compensation claims for personal injuries” demonstrated how widespread is the perception that we live in a compensation culture. Quantitative findings suggest a very strong, widespread belief that there has been an increase over the past five years in the number of people making successful claims for personal injury compensation. The report showed that 87 per cent. of those who responded believe that more people claim compensation for personal injury than did five years ago. The majority expressed the view that a lot more—67 per cent.—were doing so, while 20 per cent. of people thought that a few more people were doing so. Only 1 per cent. thought that fewer people were claiming compensation. None thought that a lot fewer were. Those findings are of concern and underline the importance of clause 1, which is designed to add greater clarity and certainty to the law.