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24 Apr 2008 : Column WA311
24 Apr 2008 : Column WA311
24 Apr 2008 : Column WA311
Thursday 24 April 2008
British Coal Compensation
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the total amount of costs repaid by solicitors in the British Coal vibration white finger litigation; which solicitors have yet to repay in full the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; and how much is currently owed by each such firm. [HL3022]
Lord Bach: With respect to the vibration white finger (VWF) scheme the Government had no costs to recover from the claimants' representatives.
All claimants' representatives costs were agreed before the judge in advance of payments.
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which 10 firms of solicitors have been paid most in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation; and how much has been paid to date to each such firm. [HL3023]
Lord Bach: The 10 firms of claimants' representatives who have been paid the most for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claims under the coal health compensation schemes are shown in the table below:
| Claimant's Representatives | Solicitors Costs (£m) |
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which 10 firms of solicitors have been paid most in the British Coal vibration white finger litigation; and how much has been paid to date to each such firm. [HL3024]
Lord Bach: The 10 firms of claimants' representatives who have been paid the most for vibration white finger claims under the coal health compensation schemes are shown in the table below:
24 Apr 2008 : Column WA312
| Claimants' Representatives | Solicitors Costs (£m) |
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the average cost of processing each successful claim, including legal, administrative, logistical and contractual costs, in (a) the British Coal respiratory disease litigation; and (b) the British Coal vibration white finger litigation; and what is the average amount of compensation paid under each scheme to claimants. [HL3025]
Lord Bach: The Government's administrative costs cannot be broken down by scheme. However, the total administrative cost for the coal health compensation schemes as at 31 March 2008 is £570.2 million. This covers the costs of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's contractors and external legal advice. This figure is interim and subject to change.
The additional costs with respect to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and vibration white finger (VWF) claims as at 30 March 2008 is shown below:
| Cost | COPD (in billion) | VWF (in billion) |
All the above figures are interim and subject to change.
The average damages paid to claimants and the average solicitors cost for claims settled by payment for COPD and VWF are shown in the table below as at 31 March 2008:
| Average Damages Paid on Claims Settled by Payment | Average Solicitors Cost Paid on Claims Settled by Payment | |
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will instigate a judicial public inquiry to examine the operation and funding of the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and
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Lord Bach: The Government are not planning any such public inquiry into the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and vibration white finger scheme in respect of the Coal Health Compensation Schemes. However, the Government welcome the report by the National Audit Office published in July 2007 and the recent Public Accounts Committee report examining the coal health compensation schemes.
The legal profession is independent and as such complaints about solicitors are a matter for the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and Solicitors Regulatory Authority rather than government. However the Government believe that it is important that miners who complain to the LCS about their claims under the coal health compensation schemes get the level of service and compensation that they deserve. The Government therefore seek regular updates from the LCS to ensure that progress is being made in continually improving the service.
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to ensure that solicitors do not receive excessive remuneration from publicly funded schemes; and what lessons they have learnt from the two highest-earning solicitors in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and the British Coal vibration white finger litigation receiving £14 million and £15 million per annum respectively. [HL3061]
Lord Bach: The Government continue to challenge the fees paid to solicitors where it is right to do so and is consistent with our contractual obligations with respect to coal health compensation schemes. However, it was not the Government's role to choose a solicitor for a claimant—claimants appoint their own representatives. Under the schemes solicitors were paid for their work under an agreed tariff.
The Government have pursued reductions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease “fast track” tariff paid to solicitors for handling claims and achieved savings of around £100 million. Savings of approximately a further £20 million have been achieved for the fees paid to solicitors for handling vibration white finger services claims.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Ministry of Justice are working closely to support the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) in their pursuit of those firms that have unfairly deducted sums from compensation. In particular the LCS is working on a plan to roll out nationally elements of their successful Rother Valley pilot which provided assistance and advice to claimants in seeking to recover deductions made from compensation unfairly.
24 Apr 2008 : Column WA314
Computer Systems: Scotland Office
Lord Harris of Haringey asked Her Majesty's Government:
In respect of the Scotland Office, on how many occasions in the last year malicious programs have compromised its computer systems; for each occasion, how many machines were affected; how long it took to remove the programs from the system; and what the impact was on the department's activities. [HL3140]
The Advocate-General for Scotland (Lord Davidson of Glen Clova): It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for departments to confirm whether they hold information about attacks against their IT systems. This would enable individuals to deduce how successful the UK is in detecting these attacks and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the UK's IT defences. This is not in the public interest.
Computer Systems: Wales Office
Lord Harris of Haringey asked Her Majesty's Government:
In respect of the Wales Office, on how many occasions in the last year malicious programs have compromised its computer systems; for each occasion, how many machines were affected; how long it took to remove the programs from the system; and what the impact was on the department's activities. [HL3071]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Baroness Morgan of Drefelin): It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for departments to confirm whether they hold information about attacks against their IT systems. This would enable individuals to deduce how successful the UK is in detecting these attacks and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the UK's IT defences. This is not in the public interest.
Crime: Offences
Baroness Stern asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): I apologise for the delay in answering this Question.
The information requested is being collated and I will write to the noble Baroness as soon as possible.
Energy: Prices
Lord Bradshaw asked Her Majesty's Government:
24 Apr 2008 : Column WA315
Lord Bach: The Government do not predict energy prices, and it is for the market to decide how to respond to external pressures such as the recent rise in wholesale costs. However, BERR does regularly publish assumptions about the future trends of oil, gas, and coal prices. The most recent set can be found at www.berr.gov.uk/energy/environment/projections/index.html. Work on updating the fossil fuel assumptions is currently under way to help inform the decisions relating to the carbon budgets, as set out in the recent Climate Change Bill. In addition BERR, for its internal modelling, regularly explores possible future retail prices. The next update is expected in summer 2008.
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