Written question asked by Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Bach (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 May 2009.

British Coal Compensation

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of Raleys Solicitors not repaying former clients in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation and British Coal vibration white finger litigation the sum of £7.686 million previously deducted from compensation awarded to them under those schemes and paid to the National Union of Mineworkers.

Answer: Complaints about solicitors are a matter for the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of the Law Society rather than the Government, since the legal profession is independent. However, the Government continue to press the Law Society to achieve payment in full of all inappropriately levied charges. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) support the LCS in its work to recover deductions not yet repaid and provide data to it to enable the work on recovery to continue.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 3430; 710 c285WA
Session: 2008-09
Subjects: Compensation Coal Deductions British Coal Corporation Industrial diseases Misconduct Mining Repayments Solicitors National Union of Mineworkers Raleys Solicitors
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk