New Clause 7
Pensions Bill
6:30 pm
Adrian Bailey (PPS (Rt Hon Adam Ingram, Minister of State), Ministry of Defence; West Bromwich West, Labour)
Returning to the hon. Gentleman’s previous argument, which I followed closely, like all hon. Members my casework has included a number of applications to ombudsman on a range of public service issues. The consistent theme in decisions is that there must be a link—causality—between maladministration and an injustice to an individual. It is odd that the ombudsman’s report and the words that the hon. Gentleman quoted said that the Government’s leaflets were potentially misleading. That does not make the link.
Going back even further, many people who would qualify for compensation under the ombudsman’s ruling took out their schemes before any Government leaflets were published. I do not see how any link can be made between their injustice and Government action. Will the hon. Gentleman comment on that?