I can today provide an update to the House on Sir John Chadwick's work in advising the Government on the establishment of an ex gratia payment scheme for Equitable Life policyholders. Sir John published his second interim report on 16 December 2009. He has since received a range of representations...

I can today provide an update to the House on Sir John Chadwick's work in advising the Government on the establishment of an ex gratia payment scheme for Equitable Life policyholders. Sir John published his second interim report on 16 December 2009. He has since received a range of representations...

I shall deal with that question immediately. Speed, as the House has urged, is now of the essence. My goal, with the benefit of Sir John’s advice, is to deliver an ex gratia scheme that is administratively quicker and fairer than the approach proposed by the ombudsman, and in a...

I shall deal with that question immediately. Speed, as the House has urged, is now of the essence. My goal, with the benefit of Sir John’s advice, is to deliver an ex gratia scheme that is administratively quicker and fairer than the approach proposed by the ombudsman, and in a...

I hope that we will not be in that position.

I hope that we will not be in that position.

I did not quite follow the hon. Gentleman’s argument. I said that requiring individual policyholders to come forward and provide an explanation to a tribunal about how they relied on regulatory decisions that turned out to be erroneous, and then show how losses were entailed, would place an undue burden...

I did not quite follow the hon. Gentleman’s argument. I said that requiring individual policyholders to come forward and provide an explanation to a tribunal about how they relied on regulatory decisions that turned out to be erroneous, and then show how losses were entailed, would place an undue burden...

I will give way one last time before I make some progress.

I will give way one last time before I make some progress.

In essence, relative loss is about losses that are suffered by policyholders once one has stripped out factors such as market movements, and disproportionate impact is about the effect of those losses on policyholders. As I said in an earlier answer, those are questions on which we have asked Sir...

In essence, relative loss is about losses that are suffered by policyholders once one has stripped out factors such as market movements, and disproportionate impact is about the effect of those losses on policyholders. As I said in an earlier answer, those are questions on which we have asked Sir...

I will give way one last time and then conclude my remarks.

I will give way one last time and then conclude my remarks.

I asked Sir John before the summer whether he has sufficient resources to undertake the work that we have asked him to undertake, and he assured me that he has—but as I have explained, there is a considerable task for him to sieve through. This has been a difficult legacy...

I asked Sir John before the summer whether he has sufficient resources to undertake the work that we have asked him to undertake, and he assured me that he has—but as I have explained, there is a considerable task for him to sieve through. This has been a difficult legacy...

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will want to intervene again if I pose this question. How much faster does he think that compensation would flow to policyholders if an independent process were set up that then reviewed the investment decisions—all 30 million—of 2 million people? Will he intervene again and tell...

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will want to intervene again if I pose this question. How much faster does he think that compensation would flow to policyholders if an independent process were set up that then reviewed the investment decisions—all 30 million—of 2 million people? Will he intervene again and tell...

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman says that a better approach is to review different classes of policyholder, because that is exactly the approach that Sir John Chadwick recommends. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will answer the following question by intervening again. What is at stake is a test of...

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman says that a better approach is to review different classes of policyholder, because that is exactly the approach that Sir John Chadwick recommends. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will answer the following question by intervening again. What is at stake is a test of...

All I can do is point to the ombudsman’s recommendation for, and assessment of, when her proposed compensation scheme would be up and running and have concluded its business. That best-case assumption was December 2010. When we and, indeed, Sir John Chadwick looked at what running that scheme would entail,...

All I can do is point to the ombudsman’s recommendation for, and assessment of, when her proposed compensation scheme would be up and running and have concluded its business. That best-case assumption was December 2010. When we and, indeed, Sir John Chadwick looked at what running that scheme would entail,...

I shall give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz).

I shall give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz).

That, I know, is the million dollar question, which I cannot answer this afternoon. [Interruption.] I know. Until Sir John has finished looking at the principles of how we calculate relative loss and assess disproportionate impact, both of which we will want to debate in the House, I cannot answer...

That, I know, is the million dollar question, which I cannot answer this afternoon. [Interruption.] I know. Until Sir John has finished looking at the principles of how we calculate relative loss and assess disproportionate impact, both of which we will want to debate in the House, I cannot answer...

As I say, my goal is to ensure that a scheme is up and running within a timetable that is administratively quicker than the ombudsman’s proposed approach, and I know that the House will hold me to account for delivering that proposal.

As I say, my goal is to ensure that a scheme is up and running within a timetable that is administratively quicker than the ombudsman’s proposed approach, and I know that the House will hold me to account for delivering that proposal.

I can only repeat the answer that I gave a moment ago.

I can only repeat the answer that I gave a moment ago.

I shall give way to the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Campbell).

I shall give way to the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Campbell).

As I have said, the regulatory failures of the 1990s, which we are now attempting to clear up, unfortunately entail Sir John having to go back over 2 million policies and information going back to 1990, to review several hundred different products and to assess the relative losses that people...

As I have said, the regulatory failures of the 1990s, which we are now attempting to clear up, unfortunately entail Sir John having to go back over 2 million policies and information going back to 1990, to review several hundred different products and to assess the relative losses that people...

My assessment is that payments can begin moving quite quickly once the final design of the scheme is understood and provision is made from the public purse.

My assessment is that payments can begin moving quite quickly once the final design of the scheme is understood and provision is made from the public purse.

That is one of the questions on which we have asked Sir John Chadwick to advise. When the next stage of the report is finished, which I hope will be in the next week or two, that may be something that I could lay before the House so that we...

That is one of the questions on which we have asked Sir John Chadwick to advise. When the next stage of the report is finished, which I hope will be in the next week or two, that may be something that I could lay before the House so that we...

I cannot second-guess what was in the minds of EMAG, but I think there were two concerns in particular, both of which it was legitimate to test. The first was the legal basis for the Government’s approach, which the court was happy to confirm. The second, rightly, was for policyholders...

I cannot second-guess what was in the minds of EMAG, but I think there were two concerns in particular, both of which it was legitimate to test. The first was the legal basis for the Government’s approach, which the court was happy to confirm. The second, rightly, was for policyholders...