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Mr. Deputy Speaker: The hon. Gentleman must simply shout, "No".
Mr. Deputy Speaker: I think the Ayes have it.
Question agreed to.
Committee tomorrow.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Lord):
With permission, I shall put together the motions relating to delegated legislation.
Mr. Patrick McLoughlin (West Derbyshire):
Object.
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
We shall first take motions 3 to 5.
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6) (Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation),
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6) (Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation),
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Pope.]
Jackie Ballard (Taunton):
Despite the lateness of the hour, I am pleased to have secured this debate on an issue that could concern any of us at any time. Each year, about 3,500 people are killed on our roads and many thousands more are injured. Often, they are totally innocent parties--the victims of either accident or recklessness.
People who have been bereaved or are themselves injured have to deal with trauma and grief as well as the complicated set of procedures that follow a road crash, including insurance claims and possible criminal or civil prosecutions. Research by the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims found that a large proportion of people bereaved on the roads suffer long-term health problems and depression. The federation said that practical and legal support, as well as emotional support for bereaved families, was needed urgently.
Currently, the Home Office and Victim Support provide valuable help and support for people bereaved through homicide and for victims of crime, but there is no such support package for victims of road accidents. I have been told by the chairman of the all-party group that many victims of road incidents find the term "accident" difficult to cope with because, so often, such incidents are not accidents, but are caused by dangerous or reckless driving or by thoughtlessness.
Last year, many Members signed early-day motion 1235, calling for automatic support and advice for people bereaved through road accidents.
The organisation BRAKE, which campaigns for safer road transport, is also campaigning for traumatised victims to receive proper support. It believes that the way in which an individual has been traumatised, whether through accident, recklessness or crime, should not be the basis for discrimination with regard to the provision of care, advice or support.
I shall give the House some details about constituents of mine who first came to see me more than a year ago, because it is their experiences that have led me to seek the debate. The 18-year-old son of the family was driving his father's car, with his mother in the front passenger seat. They were stationary at a junction waiting to join a major road when an approaching vehicle went out of control and hit their car, causing it to spin round several times before coming to rest. They had done nothing to contribute to the incident.
The 18-year-old driver had what appeared at the time to be minor injuries, but his mother was more severely injured and was taken to hospital by ambulance. The son found that his injuries affected him physically for a long time, and his confidence in driving was badly damaged. He was about to start a college course, and needed to rely on his father to move him to London and transport him to other places. The family live in a rural area with little public transport, where car ownership is not a luxury but a necessity.
Since the accident, Mrs. Larcombe, the mother of the driver, and her family have been through much emotional trauma and have had many practical difficulties to
contend with, alongside their health problems. Following the accident, for example, they lost personal belongings such as clothing that was bloodstained or cut off by the hospital, spectacles and items that were in the car. No one told them to cancel the car tax on what was now an unusable car. That may seem like a small issue, but, when people are counting the pennies, a month's car tax that one could have reclaimed is important.
The family have now had four years of dealing with insurance companies and solicitors. That, too, was a new experience for them. They say that the insurance companies that they have dealt with have made them feel like victims over and over again as they are sent for medical examinations, sometimes to see a specialist 70 miles away from home. Mrs. Larcombe has visited the local hospital for treatment more than 150 times, and she is still awaiting an operation.
The Larcombes contacted the local Victim Support organisation, thinking that that was the place to go for help, but were told, correctly, that its code of practice and its constitution limit its work to advice and support for victims of crime.
The family had taken out legal protection with their motor insurance, but felt that they had little say in the progress of their claim. Mrs. Larcombe says:
Those people have told me that they feel that information is needed, either on admission to hospital, if people are in a fit state to receive it, or at least when people are leaving hospital, to set them on the right course, with a checklist of what to do and whom to inform. I repeat that, for many people, the experience of being involved in a road incident for the first time brings them into contact with a range of other issues that they have not had to encounter before. There they are, through no fault of their own, having to deal with professionals and organisations that they have not had to deal with before.
Mr. Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston):
The hon. Lady is raising some important points, and at the beginning of her speech she mentioned the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims. Is she aware that the principal author of the report to which she referred is a Swiss gentleman, who has advised Members of Parliament at an open meeting that in Switzerland a counselling process has been created, parallel to the equivalent of our victim support system?
Jackie Ballard:
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. No, I did not know that. I understand that there is also an organisation in this country, of which I was unaware, called RoadPeace. Certainly my constituents were not made aware of it when they were in need of advice and support.
I bring this case to the House's attention because Mr. and Mrs. Larcombe were unfortunate enough, two years after the initial incident, to have a second car written off. It was parked in a London street, so thankfully this
time they were not in the car. In the past four years, they have learned more than they ever wanted to know about the need for help and support for victims of such road accidents. On the phone to me this weekend, when I told her about securing this debate, Mrs. Larcombe said that the whole experience had made her feel as though she was being screwed into the ground.
Insurance companies are happy to take our premiums, but are not so eager to deal with claims. We have all had constituents who have had problems trying to get insurance companies to deal with their claims. Companies are not keen to deal with claims, even when it is obvious who the innocent victims are. I appreciate that in some road accidents or crashes it is not obvious who is at fault, but it is sometimes clear who is not at fault.
Thousands of people each year have experiences similar to those of my constituents. I have two suggestions to put to the Minister. He is from the Home Office, and one of my suggestions is for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, but I am sure that he can pass it on to his colleagues. Funding should be given to Victim Support to enable it to extend its remit to include victims of road traffic incidents.
That the Local Government Finance (England) Special Grant Report (No. 42) on the Promoting Independence: Partnership Grant for 1999-2000 (HC 301), which was laid before this House on 23rd March, be approved.
Question agreed to.
That the Local Government Finance (England) Special Grant Report (No. 43) on the Promoting Independence: Prevention Grant for 1999-2000 (HC 302), which was laid before this House on 23rd March, be approved.
That the Local Government Finance (England) Special Grant Report (No. 44) on the Promoting Independence: Carers Grant for 1999-2000 (HC 303), which was laid before this House on 23rd March, be approved.--[Mr. Pope.]
That the draft General Teaching Council for Wales (Constitution) Regulations 1999, which were laid before this House on 22nd March, be approved.
Question agreed to.
That the draft General Teaching Council for England (Constitution) Regulations 1999, which were laid before this House on 22nd March, be approved.--[Mr. Pope.]
11.38 pm
"When the insurance company says you have to attend a medical examination you feel you have to jump".
When she was once asked to attend a medical examination many miles away, she was sick several times in the car while on her way to be examined by the specialist at the behest of the insurance company. Her son was asked to attend an appointment during his college exams.
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