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Mr. Brazier: The point is certainly not political. I mentioned 1997 because the hon. Member for Edmonton (Mr. Love) quoted a survey from 1997 that stated that litigation was not a problem. All the cases to which I referred arose, or at least became prominent, after the date of that survey, so the situation has changed completely.
Mr. Burnett: Absolutely right—that is why I said that it is not a political point: it relates to the survey.
I played a part in the passage through this House of the Access to Justice Act 1999, which greatly extended the ability of lawyers to make conditional fee arrangements with clients—no win, no fee; big win, big fee. The school trip case has been cited in detail. It involved a boy who was reproved by his teachers, who had given their time to escort him. The boy won the case in the first instance, and it took about five years for the Court of Appeal to reverse that judgment.
I have been greatly concerned by the case of Vowles v. Evans and Another—the rugby case—which was cited in the Court of Appeal in 2003. Have the Minister's officials found out whether it is under appeal in the House of Lords, because it is extraordinary? I hasten to add that I have not read the transcript of the case, heard the evidence or seen the affidavits. I have read a synopsis of the case, which is kindly provided by the Library in its excellent publication on the Promotion of Volunteering Bill.
The relevant rule that the referee was supposed to comply with required him to satisfy himself that the replacement player was suitably trained and experienced to play safely in the front row. In leaving the decision to the captain of the team when the game had been stopped and there was time for reflection, the referee apparently abdicated his responsibility to decide whether it was necessary to insist on that rule being complied with by delegating the decision to the captain. I would have thought that there was not much more that the referee could do in those circumstances, and there is also an onus on the player to make sure that he is a suitable and fit person to play rugby football.
I do not know the case, but I sincerely hope that there will be an opportunity for the Bill's sponsors to discuss it, perhaps with counsel for the claimant and counsel for the defendant. On the face of it, the case seems staggeringly perverse, and it is clear why the number of schools prepared to play rugby football and the number of people prepared to be referees has reduced.
The no win, no fee arrangement was greatly extended in the Access to Justice Act. Conditional fees give lawyers a large financial stake in the outcome of a case, which, for most of us, is a glaring conflict of interest. The Act greatly extended the conditional fee agreement. After its enactment there was a considerable upsurge in personal injury litigation, and as time has passed insurance premiums for defendants' costs have increased substantially. Insurance companies faced with a statement of inherent risk will be more reluctant to cover a plaintiff seeking insurance cover for defendants'
costs, so the statement will have a benign effect. It will not overcome the danger of litigation, but at least insurance companies will think again.The Bill has the support of the Central Council of Physical Recreation, which co-ordinates all sporting organisations, from the Football Association to the Rugby Football Union. It also has the support of the Campaign for Adventure—the umbrella group for training organisations—the Youth Hostels Association, the YMCA and, as has been said, the Girl Guides. I hope that the House will support the Bill and give it a Second Reading.
The establishment of a statement of inherent risk will go some way towards protecting volunteers and organisations from unreasonable litigation when proper and sensible safety standards have been adhered to. The Bill seeks to reduce the cost of insurance through a pooling system, transfers certain civil liabilities from Government and local government volunteers to Government and local government bodies themselves, and seeks to remove charges incurred by volunteers when registering with the Criminal Records Bureau. Countless young people yearn for adventure and challenge. They and the volunteers who help them must not be frustrated and thwarted by unnecessary, frivolous and vexatious litigation and red tape.
10.22 am
Mr. Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op): I apologise, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to you, the House and the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier), because I may have to leave before we conclude our discussions on Second Reading as I have an important engagement in my constituency. I also declare an interest, as I enjoy membership of various voluntary groups including active membership of my local golf club, which is rather unusual for Labour Members. My most important membership is of the co-operative movement—indeed, I am a Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament. The co-operative movement was the first formal voluntary endeavour in this country in 1844, and at its height it had 8 million to 9 million members, who were actively involved, not just by shopping at the Co-op but by taking part in meetings, being active in decision-making structures and running, owning and controlling the organisation itself. I therefore have an interest in the subject of volunteering and, as I said in an intervention, I strongly support the principle behind the Bill and the need to ensure that volunteers have a framework in which they can operate and feel that their work is valued by society. I also hope that more people will take up volunteering.
I shall comment on three issues about which there are concerns. Those concerns were acknowledged by the hon. Member for Canterbury, but I should like to set them out for the benefit of the House. First, are the threats to volunteering mentioned in the hon. Gentleman's speech and in various recent communications genuine threats? A cause célèbre in the Labour party is "Bowling Alone", a book published a couple of years ago by Professor Robert Putnam of Harvard university, who discussed in great detail the decline in social capital in the United States, and demonstrated that many societal pressures are leading to that decline. That could also be interpreted as a decline in voluntarism in society, and there are deep-
seated reasons why volunteering is suffering. I am not sure that the proposals in the Bill truly address the need to create a suitable climate for volunteering.Secondly, I want to touch on the terms of the Bill and its shortcomings, some of which were acknowledged by the hon. Member for Canterbury. Thirdly, I want to look at exemptions in relation to litigation, the statement of inherent risk, insurance, advice and data protection, all of which are included in the Bill. Are those exemptions balanced and reasonable in the circumstances, or are there other ways in which we can achieve the Bill's aims?
The promotion of volunteering, as I said, is something that I strongly support in principle, and it is critical to the British way of life, if such a thing can be defined. The number of people who take part in volunteering activities has already been mentioned. Latest estimates show that there are more than 150,000 amateur and voluntary sports clubs throughout the country, many of which have been in existence for 30, 50 or 100 years. There are 10 million regular participants in voluntary activity, and it is estimated that 6.5 per of the population is involved. We should therefore not underestimate the importance of voluntary activity to the British way of life.
As I said in my intervention, it has been suggested that the Bill poses a threat to volunteering. I do not wish to suggest that such a threat does not exist, but it may be more useful to consider whether the Bill is slightly wide of the mark in addressing the problems facing volunteering. Concerns have been expressed about rules, regulations and increased bureaucracy for voluntary organisations. We all accept that voluntary organisations depend on people giving their time and effort. The more hurdles there are such as form filling and other bureaucracy, the more difficult it is for people to engage in the activity itself. There is a fear of blame, and a so-called blame culture has developed. I do not deny that such a culture exists, but I should like to consider the implications for the voluntary movement by looking at the two most comprehensive surveys of voluntary activity, including the national survey of volunteering in 1997, which gave various reasons why people stopped volunteering. Fifty per cent. of respondents said that they no longer had time for voluntary activity, 24 per cent. claimed that their efforts were not always appreciated, and 9 per cent. felt that their help was not really wanted. Neither of the two concerns highlighted by the Bill is mentioned in that study.
The Institute for Volunteering Research programme on voluntary management—the people who manage the voluntary bodies concerned—raises three major policy issues. One has already been touched on—the checks on criminal records and vetting procedures, which the institute found it onerous to carry out, but the Bill does not suggest, and I certainly would not suggest, that we do away with any of those procedures. Interestingly, it was suggested that the new deal was having an impact because it was bringing people into employment, which reduced the time that they could devote to voluntary activity. I know that the Opposition parties would like to do away with the new deal, but I do not think they are suggesting that change in an attempt to increase the level of voluntary activity.
The third issue raised by the report was funding. We all recognise that funding is a problem. I was pleased to hear the Chancellor's recent announcement about amateur clubs, and I hope that the changes in funding arrangements will begin to address the problem.
Research studies show that the issues with which the Bill deals have had an impact. Sport England leisure industry research highlighted risk aversion, not as the main challenge to the voluntary movement, but as one of the challenges facing it. Similarly, the Central Council of Physical Recreation suggested that volunteers were under pressure because of fear of the blame culture and the possibility of litigation. Again, that was mentioned as only one of the pressures on volunteers.Although I accept that the Bill's concerns do represent pressures on the voluntary movement, it would be wrong to think that they have a major impact on volunteering.
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