HC Deb 28 July 1958 vol 592 cc942-4
42. Mr. Prentice

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will make proposals to amend the Industrial Injuries Act so as to provide benefit for injuries caused by any assaults occurring in the course of the injured party's employment.

The Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (Mr. John Boyd-Carpenter)

No, Sir. The hon. Member will no doubt be aware that Section 7 (4) of the Industrial Injuries Act, 1946, provides that an accident arising in the course of employment shall be deemed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have arisen out of that employment, and I see no reason to depart from the now well settled law on this subject.

43. Mr. Prentice

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether his attention has been drawn to the recent refusal of the Divisional Court to reverse the decision of the Industrial Injuries Commissioner that the injuries caused to Mr. C. Richardson by an assault during the course of his employment as a bus conductor could not lead to benefit under the Industrial Injuries Act; and how many similar cases have resulted in a refusal of benefit during the last twelve months.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

I am aware of the case to which the hon. Member refers. I have no figures for similar cases, and as it is very rare for the facts in cases of this kind to be precisely the same, such figures if available would be largely a matter of opinion.

Mr. Prentice

Is the Minister aware that in this case the man concerned has suffered serious permanent injuries, which resulted from an unprovoked attack upon him by a group of hooligans who boarded his bus while he was in course of his employment as a bus conductor? As it was his employment which took him to that spot and led him into that risk, does it not show that some amendment of the law is needed to bring cases of this sort within the scope of the Industrial Injuries Act?

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

It is not for me to comment upon the judgment of the learned Lord Chief Justice in the Divisional Court, or upon the Industrial Injuries Commissioner, but the issue which the hon. Member has in mind was plainly before the court. If the hon. Member is aware of the facts of the case, he will appreciate that this man received his most unfortunate injury at the same time as a number of passers-by in the street were similarly assaulted by what was described by the Lord Chief Justice as a gang of hooligans.