Sir John provides regular updates to the Government on progress. He has now established his office and appointed key members and the actuarial advisers Towers Perrin. On 16 June, Sir John issued a document setting out his proposed approach and requesting that representations be made to him by this Friday.
I thank the Minister for his answer. While the ex gratia scheme fails to meet the needs and expectations of the victims of maladministration by the Government over Equitable Life, it should still be speedily and efficiently introduced. To that end, will he tell us what time requirement has been placed on Sir John to bring in the scheme? Does he also understand that it is more than appropriate for Sir John to meet the concerned MPs and members of all-party groups who want to lobby him on this issue?
That is a fair comment. I spoke to Sir John Chadwick about this question this morning, and his office has confirmed that he would be very happy to continue to receive representations from Members of this House. The question of the speed of his conclusions is also an important one, but I would like him to balance speed with coming to the right conclusions. He will obviously have to go through an enormous amount of information about policyholders, which will have to be thoroughly analysed before any conclusions can be drawn about the right ex gratia scheme to correct this injustice. Sir John told me this morning that it will be much easier for him to pin down what the next stages will be after this Friday, when all the representations have been received. He hopes to publish a further document pointing out the next steps in August.
I appreciate what the Minister says about ensuring that we get the right scheme, but nine years after this saga started, and with 15 policyholders dying every day, how much longer does he think it is reasonable for people to wait?
I would just like to underline my previous answer and to say that speed is of the essence now. It is vital that justice be delivered to the policyholders of Equitable Life. At the same time, however, I appreciate the enormous burden that has been placed on Sir John to get to grips with understanding where there have been losses and the scale of those losses, and where hardship has been caused and the dimensions of that hardship. The hon. Lady will appreciate that those considerations are all vital if Sir John is to establish an ex gratia scheme that will correct this injustice that has so incensed Members of the House.
We hear what my right hon. Friend has to say, but the truth is that there is not a constituency in the country that has not been touched by the plight of Equitable Life policyholders. The time has now come to show compassion and that the Government care. Let us get on with it; let us pay out the cheques and have done with it once and for all.
That urgency is shared by me and by Sir John Chadwick, but my hon. Friend would agree that we do not want an ex gratia scheme that does not correct the injustices, which have been accepted by the Government and widely acknowledged on both sides of the House. My hon. Friend would also accept that Sir John has an enormous amount of information to go through, and I would rather that he proceeded with urgency but produced an ex gratia scheme that is right.
A pensioner couple came to see me in my constituency on Friday. They have suffered greatly because of the collapse of Equitable Life. They have been living on an overdraft, and the bank has pulled the plug on it. The fact that the couple hoped to get something from the ex gratia scheme cut no ice with that bank. There are people who are in deep financial difficulty, and I urge the Government to get a move on and get some money into their pockets.
That message is received loud and clear.
It is now a year since the ombudsman produced her report and it is six months since the Government produced their response. Does the Minister not appreciate just how angry policyholders are that they still do not know how much they may receive or when they may receive it? Is it not time for the Government to give a clear deadline for when policyholders can expect to receive some payments in recognition of the losses they suffered as a result of the Government’s maladministration of the regulation of Equitable Life?
That anger is shared on both sides of the House, which is why I urge all Members to make representations to Sir John by this Friday. We have had a couple of good debates over the past few months, and it is important to keep up the momentum behind Sir John’s work. That is why he proposed such a short timetable for receiving representations about where injustices and hardship have been caused, and why I am glad that he will produce a document setting out his next steps in August. All Members want a speedy resolution now.