Personal Injury

Mr. Bellingham
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing measures to cap the level of fees for legal services in personal injury claims cases; and if he will make a statement;

(2) what steps he plans to take following the consultation exercise on case track limits and the claims process for personal injury claims that closed on 13 July 2007 in relation to personal injury claims; and if he will make a statement;

(3) what plans he has to reform the civil justice system in respect of personal injury claims; and if he will make a statement;

(4) when his Department plans to publish the responses to the recent consultation on case track limits and the process for personal injury claims.

Bridget Prentice
The consultation paper: “Case track limits and claims process for personal injury claims” set out proposals for improving the system for certain personal injury claims, including proposals for fixed recoverable costs. These proposals represent a significant reform of the claims process for personal injury claims and it has been important to give careful consideration to the numerous and diverse range of views that we have received. A summary of responses and the Government's next steps will be set out in the Response to Consultation, which we aim to publish by the end of March.

Mr. Bellingham
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the impact of referral fees on the personal injury claims process; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice
The Ministry of Justice has not assessed the impact of referral fees in personal injury claims. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is responsible for the regulation of lawyers and ensuring that they comply with Rule 9 of the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007 which sets out the requirements on referral fees. The SRA are currently reviewing the provisions on referral fees and considering a range of options to improve compliance with Rule 9.