§ 36. Mr. Chapmanasked the Attorney-General if he will make a statement about the progress of the Lord Chancellor's Law Reform Committee examining the law of liability covering latent defects.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe Law Reform Committee is in the final stages of its work on the subject of limitation in negligence cases involving latent defects. A report will be submitted to the Lord Chancellor in the near future.
§ Mr. ChapmanI am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for that information. When the Lord Chancellor's committee reports, will my hon. and learned Friend use his good offices to try to obtain a speedy parliamentary resolution to the whole question of the law of liability in relation to defects in buildings, particularly as the present state of affairs since Arms v. Merton in 1977 is in no one's interest, especially those of local authorities and the public, as well as architects and builders?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe Government and the Law Reform Committee are well aware of the significance of the matters raised by my hon. Friend, who knows a great deal about the importance of this in his professional capacity. He will recall that the recent decision in the House of Lords in the Pirelli case was of great importance. The Government will give urgent consideration to the committee's conclusions, particularly those that hear upon that case.