§ Mr. Peter Millsasked the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in the possible use by his Department of the commercial insurance market; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PattieAs noted in SDE 81—Cmnd. 8212.1 para. 815 (c)—a study into the activities of the claims commission has been undertaken. This has included a comparison of the costs of using the commercial insurance market to perform the work presently done by the claims commission, with the costs of doing it in-house. A decision will be made shortly on whether the Department should enter into negotiations with the industry on the basis of tenders which have been submitted by leading insurance brokers, with the aim of transferring some of the claims commission's work to commercial insurance.