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Small Claims (Courts)

: We have not announced an 8 per cent. cut. The second subject raised by the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed was enforcement. The hon. Member for Hornchurch rightly said that if court judgments are not enforced, it adds insult to injury. First of all, a person receives a wrong; then, they make the effort to go to court; and then the person who did the wrong cocks a snoop at the whole system and refuses to pay. That is a major problem. We ought to recognise that the problem is that many people think that they just do not have to pay. Many agencies and organisations have to spend time chasing people who think that even though they owe somebody something—because they owe them a debt or have done them a wrong—they can just walk away from it. We should all condemn those people who do a wrong to someone and think that they do not have to provide recompense. Enforcement has a crucial role to play in the small claims system. There is no point obtaining a judgment if it is unenforceable. I realise that enforcement is not as effective as it might be; that is why we are considering further possibilities. We are currently drafting provisions for a Bill to improve enforcement. The intention is to legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows, and to allow the greatest possible scrutiny. I can only say that our debate on the subject will reinforce the recognition that we need to bring that legislation forward. It has been useful to have the opportunity to debate enforcement. There is much agreement about what needs to be done on the matter; we just need to get the parliamentary time to bring that legislation forward.