Mesothelioma Bill [HL]

Debate between Lord Stoneham of Droxford and Lord Alton of Liverpool

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stoneham of Droxford]

My Lords, I will comment on a number of issues to which these amendments give rise—and they are very sensitive issues. Any start date is arbitrary, and there will always be people who are caught by a start date, so whether it is 2010 or 2012, there will inevitably be feelings of unfairness. However, the earlier the start date, whatever the cost—perhaps the Minister will clarify the cost, but we were told it was £119 million, and if it is 70% of that it will come to £80 million—agreeing to that concession would cause a 25% increase in the cost of this scheme. Where is the money going to come from? Will it come from a new negotiation, or from reduced benefits and compensation for those who will receive money from the scheme? That question has to be answered by the movers of the amendment.

On the issue of coverage, there are obviously concerns about the self-employed and people from the same household, but are we saying that we are going to complicate this legislation and hold it up while we have an argument about public liability insurance versus employee insurance? That would be a recipe for severe delay. The great advantage of this legislation is that we have kept it simple and we have an agreement. It is a balancing act to get to that agreement and to get the legislation through so that it benefits the people who were in employment. Once this settles down, we could consider coming back to this—I hope the Minister will do so at some stage—and look again at how we might cover the self-employed and people from the same household, but if we start that discussion now we will be here until 2015 or 2016 before we have legislation to benefit the families for whom it is intended.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

My Lords, I will speak briefly to these amendments, in particular to support what the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, argued in Committee and what these amendments call for today. We had a long debate on 5 June, in which I spoke at some length. The point I made then, which partly answers what the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, has just said about the arbitrariness of dates, was that the original consultation period is surely the point from which this scheme should kick in, not the date of July 25 last year, the last day of the Session, when a welcome announcement was made that there would be a Bill along these lines and a scheme of this kind.

The consultation date of February 2010 is, for me, a seminal date. For those affected it represented a promise waiting to be fulfilled. The eligibility date should be at the commencement of the consultation. After all, the Association of British Insurers began the discussions at that time. It can hardly have woken up on 25 July last year, shocked at having failed to make contingency plans or reserves. Therefore, applying the date of February 2010 is the right and fair way to go about this. It is the date that people anticipated and expected. In law, as well, it is far more consistent. After all, there will be people who were diagnosed with mesothelioma during that period and it is important that they are accepted as part of this scheme.

I know that the Minister will not be in a position to share the legal advice that he has been given within the department, but we might well leave ourselves open to claims because of the consultation document that was issued and the clear indication that this scheme would probably begin from as long ago as February 2010, rather than 25 July last year. For those reasons alone, I am happy to support the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie.