House of Commons Amendments

Session 2013 - 14
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

29

House of Commons

Tuesday 10 December 2013

Public Bill Committee

New Amendments handed in are marked thus

Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

Mesothelioma Bill [Lords]

Note

The amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Resolution of the

Programming Sub-Committee [5 December 2013].

Resolution of the Programming Sub-Committee

The Programming Sub-Committee appointed by the Speaker in respect of the Bill

agreed the following Resolution at its meeting on Thursday 5 December (Standing Order

No. 83C):

That—

(1)
the Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 8.55 am on Tuesday 10

December) meet—

(a)
at 2.00 pm on Tuesday 10 December;

(b)
at 11.30 am and 2.00 pm on Thursday 12 December;

(c)
at 8.55 am and 2.00 pm on Tuesday 17 December;

(2)
the proceedings shall be taken in the following order: Clauses 1 to 11;

Schedule 1; Clause 12; Schedule 2; Clauses 13 to 21; new Clauses; new

Schedules; remaining proceedings on the Bill; and

(3)
the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a

conclusion at 5.00 pm on Tuesday 17 December.

Mike Penning has given notice of his intention to move a motion in the terms of the

Resolution of the Programming Sub-Committee [Standing Order No. 83C].

Public Bill Committee: 10 December 2013
30

Mesothelioma Bill-[Lords], continued

Mike Penning

That, subject to the discretion of the Chair, any written evidence received by the

Committee shall be reported to the House for publication.

Stephen Phillips

13

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  3,  leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘must’.

Mr Nicholas Brown

60

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  4,  after ‘Mesothelioma’, insert ‘Pleural Plaques’.

Paul Goggins

55

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  6,  at end insert ‘; and for funding research into mesothelioma

(through the research supplement under section [Research supplement]).’.

Mr Nicholas Brown

61

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  6,  at end add ‘and

(c)
people with pleural plaques.’.

Mr Nicholas Brown

62

Clause  2,  page  1,  line  15,  leave out ‘25 July 2012’ and insert ‘4 April 1979’.

Kate Green

Chris Bryant

Mr Nicholas Brown

2

Clause  2,  page  1,  line  15,  leave out ‘25 July 2012’ and insert ‘10 February 2010’.

Kate Green

Chris Bryant

3

Clause  2,  page  2,  line  4,  leave out ‘and is not eligible to receive a specified

payment’.

Kate Green

Chris Bryant

4

Clause  2,  page  2,  line  4,  after subsection (e) insert—

‘(f)
save as provided in (g) below, the application is made within three years

of being first diagnosed, and

(g)
for those persons first diagnosed on or after 25 July 2012, but before this

Act comes into force, the three year time limit in section 2(1)(f) shall

commence on the date this Act is brought into force.’.

Public Bill Committee: 10 December 2013
31

Mesothelioma Bill-[Lords], continued

Stephen Phillips

14

Clause  2,  page  2,  line  6,  at end insert “‘insurer” includes any entity which has

succeeded to the liabilities of the insurer with whom a relevant employer maintained

employers’ liability insurance at the time of a person’s exposure to asbestos;’.

Stephen Phillips

15

Clause  2,  page  2,  line  15,  at end insert ‘and includes a successor in title to any such

employer’.

Kate Green

Chris Bryant

5

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  35,  after subsection (d) insert—

‘(e)
save as provided in (f) below, the application is made within three years

of the death of the person with the disease, and

(f)
for those persons who died on or after 25 July 2012, but before this Act

comes into force, the three year time limit in section 3(1)(e) shall

commence on the date this Act is brought into force.’.

Stephen Phillips

16

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  39,  leave out ‘assume’ and insert ‘it is to be assumed’.

Kate Green

Chris Bryant

Mr Nicholas Brown

6

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  44,  leave out ‘25 July 2012’ and insert ‘10 February 2010’.

Mr Nicholas Brown

64

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  44,  leave out ‘25 July 2012’ and insert ‘4 April 1979’.

Stephen Phillips

17

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  45,  leave out ‘assume’ and insert ‘it is to be assumed’.

Stephen Phillips

18

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  48,  at end insert “‘insurer” includes any entity which has

succeeded to the liabilities of the insurer with whom a relevant employer maintained

employers’ liability insurance at the time of a person’s exposure to asbestos;’.

Stephen Phillips

19

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  48,  at end insert—

“‘relevant employer” means an employer who, at the time of the person’s

exposure to asbestos—

Public Bill Committee: 10 December 2013
32

Mesothelioma Bill-[Lords], continued

(a)
was required by the compulsory insurance legislation to maintain

insurance covering any liability arising because of the exposure

to asbestos, or

(b)
would have been required by the compulsory insurance

legislation to maintain insurance covering any liability arising

because of the exposure to asbestos if the legislation had been in

force at that time; and

(c)
includes a successor in title to any such employer.’.

Kate Green

Chris Bryant

7

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  4,  at end insert ‘but shall not be less than 90 per cent of the

average civil compensation recovered by mesothelioma claimants.’.

Kate Green

Chris Bryant

8

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  4,  at end insert ‘and shall be met by a levy on insurers of not

less than 3 per cent of Gross Written Premium during any given period’.

Kate Green

Chris Bryant

9

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  4,  at end insert—

‘( )
The Secretary of State shall provide for there to be an annual independent

assessment of the average amount of civil compensation recovered by

mesothelioma claimants, and of payments made under the scheme, and for there

to be a report thereon laid before each House of Parliament.’.

Ian Lavery

12

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  4,  at end insert ‘but shall not be less than 100 per cent. of the

average civil compensation recovered by mesothelioma claimants.’.

Mr Nicholas Brown

66

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  4,  at end insert ‘but shall not be less than 100 per cent of the

average damages recovered in civil mesothelioma cases.’.

Mr Nicholas Brown

67

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  4,  at end insert ‘but shall not be less than 110 per cent of the

average damages recovered in civil mesothelioma cases.’.

Stephen Phillips

20

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  5,  at end insert ‘but shall not be less than the average

damages which a person diagnosed with diffuse mesothelioma would recover against a

relevant employer who had negligently or in breach of statutory duty caused or permitted

Public Bill Committee: 10 December 2013
33

Mesothelioma Bill-[Lords], continued

that person to be exposed to asbestos.’.

Stephen Phillips

22

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  10,  leave out from ‘dependant’ to end and add ‘apportioned

in such manner as the scheme shall direct’.

Stephen Phillips

21

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  5,  at end insert ‘but shall not be less than 80 per cent. of the

average damages which a person diagnosed with diffuse mesothelioma would recover

against a relevant employer who had negligently or in breach of statutory duty caused or

permitted that person to be exposed to asbestos.’.

Stephen Phillips

23

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  30,  after ‘evidence’, insert ‘including the disapplication of

strict rules of evidence.’.

Stephen Phillips

24

Clause  6,  page  3,  line  36,  after ‘scheme’, insert ‘by a person other than the person

who took the original decision’.

Stephen Phillips

25

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  5,  at end add—

‘(5)
An appeal from the decision of the First-tier Tribunal shall lie to the relevant

court, but only with the permission of that court and rules of court may be made

accordingly.

(6)
In this section—

(a)
“First-tier Tribunal” shall mean the tribunal established by the scheme to

hear appeals against a decision taken on review;

(b)
“the relevant court” means—

(i)
the High Court in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, or

(ii)
the Court of Session in Scotland.’.

Stephen Phillips

26

Clause  7,  page  4,  line  28,  leave out subsection (6).

Public Bill Committee: 10 December 2013
34

Mesothelioma Bill-[Lords], continued

Stephen Phillips

27

Clause  9,  page  5,  line  41,  after ‘director’, insert ‘(a)’.

Stephen Phillips

28

Clause  9,  page  5,  line  42,  after ‘corporate;’, insert—

‘(b)
in relation to a body corporate established by the Secretary of State under

section 7(3), means any person exercising the functions of a director; and

(c)
includes a shadow director within the meaning of section 251 of the

Companies Act 2006.’.

Stephen Phillips

29

Clause  10,  page  6,  line  16,  after ‘proceedings’, insert ‘in the name of that person’.

Stephen Phillips

30

Clause  10,  page  6,  line  16,  after ‘help’, insert ‘including indemnities against

adverse orders for the costs of any proceedings or any application made therein’.

Stephen Phillips

31

Clause  10,  page  6,  line  25,  after paragraph (2)(b) insert—

‘( )
any proceedings before the Technical Committee established under section 15

and any reference to arbitration arising as a result of the decision of the Technical

Committee, or’.

Kate Green

Chris Bryant

10

Clause  10,  page  6,  line  34,  at end insert—

‘(6)
In any relevant proceedings, whether brought with the assistance of the scheme

administrator or not, the court shall, at the request of the person with

mesothelioma, assess claimed damages as if the person with mesothelioma had

already died and the court were assessing damages, including for bereavement,

pursuant to the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.’.

Stephen Phillips

32

Clause  11,  page  6,  line  40,  at end add—


‘But nothing in Schedule 1 shall be construed—

(a)
as permitting the recovery of any benefits, other sums or scheme

payments unless and until an eligible person or an eligible dependent

has been made whole;

Public Bill Committee: 10 December 2013
35

Mesothelioma Bill-[Lords], continued

(b)
as permitting the recovery of any benefits, other sums or scheme

payments such that an eligible person or an eligible dependent would

not be made whole.’.


For the purposes of this section, an eligible person or an eligible dependent has

been made whole when, by means of benefits, other sums, scheme payments

or compensation, that person or dependent has received an amount equivalent

to the average damages which a person diagnosed with diffuse mesothelioma

would recover against a relevant employer who had negligently or in breach of

statutory duty caused or permitted that person to be exposed to asbestos (or, in

the case of more than one eligible dependent, the relevant proportion thereof

determined in accordance with the scheme).’.

Stephen Phillips

33

Clause  12,  page  7,  line  3,  leave out ‘an’ and insert ‘a successful’.

Stephen Phillips

34

Clause  13,  page  7,  line  8,  after ‘insurers’, insert ‘and reinsurers’.

Stephen Phillips

35

Clause  13,  page  7,  line  9,  leave out ‘with a view to meeting’ and insert ‘so as to

ensure that’.

Stephen Phillips

36

Clause  13,  page  7,  line  10,  after ‘Scheme’, insert ‘are met’.

Paul Goggins

56

Clause  13,  page  7,  line  10,  at end insert—

‘( )
The regulations mentioned in subsection (1) must provide for the levy to include

a research supplement in accordance with section [Research supplement] (in

addition to the amounts set for the purpose specified in subsection (1)).’.

Paul Goggins

57

Clause  13,  page  7,  line  11,  after ‘levy’, insert ‘(not including the research

supplement)’.

Paul Goggins

58

Clause  13,  page  7,  line  16,  after ‘levy’, insert ‘(not including the research

supplement)’.



© Parliamentary copyright	Revised 10 December 2013