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Compensation (Claims Management Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2008

Again, I am grateful to the Minister for explaining the regulations. I hope that I can be fairly brief, but as I saw the large team of officials that came in to offer him assistance, I was reminded of a Permanent Secretary in a department in which I served some time ago who, on seeing a similar sight, said, ““Ah, large team, weak case””. I just hope that the case is not weak on this occasion. First, the Minister actually gave a firm time when he said that the department will publish its review into these matters later this week. I look forward to that coming out before we break up on Thursday. I hope he will ensure that a copy is sent to me as speedily as possible, and that the department will manage to produce other items that it has promised on time and when it says that it will. Secondly, will the Minister say a word or two about the regulatory impact assessment? The Explanatory Memorandum made it clear that a regulatory impact assessment of this statutory instrument has not been produced. A full regulatory impact assessment for claims management regulation was published to accompany the Compensation Bill, details of which are given on the website. I looked at it on the website. It was signed off by the Minister’s predecessor, the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, who is now the Leader of the House, in late 2005, and it put forward various options that imposed quite high costs on the claims management companies. No doubt that has all been dealt with. Am I right that no further costs are being added under the regulations, and that the costs referred to in the 2005-06 regulatory impact assessment are already there? Thirdly, and briefly, is the Minister happy about the £250,000 for a single claim and £500,000 for aggregated claims in new Regulation 21B, ““Minimum terms of professional indemnity insurance””? Will he say a little more about what consultation they had and whom they consulted to reach those figures? Finally, on the power in the final regulation to seize records, I take it that no power of entry is being granted to officials at this stage and that it is merely a power to seize records where necessary and to return them in due course, as set out in the regulations. I have no further questions.