HC Deb 23 June 1997 vol 296 cc620-1
32. Mr. Dismore

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to review the statutory bereavement payment of £7,500 under the Fatal Accidents Acts. [3120]

Mr. Hoon

The Law Commission is currently conducting a comprehensive review of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 and plans to issue a consultation paper later this year. I expect that the consultation paper will cover damages for bereavement. That is, of course, additional to compensation that the courts can award to financial dependants of the deceased. Damages for bereavement is an important and sensitive matter. The Government will consider carefully what steps to take in the light of the consultation paper.

Mr. Dismore

Speaking as a personal injury lawyer, may I tell my hon. Friend that one of the most difficult things that we have to do is to advise the parents of a child killed tragically in an accident—perhaps mown down by a drunken driver—that their child's life is worth practically nothing. It is worth nothing if the child is over 18.

It will be several years before the Law Commission's project is completed. In the meantime, will the Lord Chancellor consider exercising powers under section 185 of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 to uprate the figure, which has remained the same since 1991, and will he take a leaf out of the new criminal injuries compensation scheme limits, which are higher than at common law?

Mr. Hoon

I am well aware of my hon. Friend's considerable expertise in these matters. I sincerely hope that it will not be several years before the Law Commission report is published. Although it is important that the figure should be uprated, particularly to take account of inflation, I hope that my hon. Friend will accept that it is equally important for us to await the outcome of a consultation conducted by an independent Law Commission, which is examining the entire issue of fatal accidents claims, rather than simply picking out any one element of the material that the commission is considering. It would be wise to see the final results of the consultation paper before taking any specific decisions about uprating.