My Lords, I warmly welcome these amendments. This will come as no surprise to the noble Baroness; as she has already indicated, amendments very close to these were in my name in Committee. I am delighted that the Government has listened. I believe that these amendments both strengthen and clarify Clause 1, better defining...

My Lords, I warmly welcome these amendments. This will come as no surprise to the noble Baroness; as she has already indicated, amendments very close to these were in my name in Committee. I am delighted that the Government has listened. I believe that these amendments both strengthen and clarify Clause 1, better defining...

My Lords, I am extremely grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, because I know that he has spent a great deal of time thinking about Clause 1 and has worked closely with me, not least in Grand Committee, as he said, discussing statutory duty, which I dealt with under the previous amendment. I hope that noble...

My Lords, I am extremely grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, because I know that he has spent a great deal of time thinking about Clause 1 and has worked closely with me, not least in Grand Committee, as he said, discussing statutory duty, which I dealt with under the previous amendment. I hope that noble...

My Lords, I respectfully seek to support what the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, has said—which is in forensic terms, ““If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it””. The statute is in wholly permissive language:"““A court considering a claim in negligence may””," not ““must””. Nothing has been made mandatory in the amendment and therefore...

My Lords, I respectfully seek to support what the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, has said—which is in forensic terms, ““If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it””. The statute is in wholly permissive language:"““A court considering a claim in negligence may””," not ““must””. Nothing has been made mandatory in the amendment and therefore...

My Lords, I rise to dissent from the opinion expressed by my noble friend Lord Lucas and to support the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart. I also play close attention to the comments of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Ackner. Clause 1 was discussed for more than seven hours in Grand Committee, which may...

My Lords, I rise to dissent from the opinion expressed by my noble friend Lord Lucas and to support the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart. I also play close attention to the comments of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Ackner. Clause 1 was discussed for more than seven hours in Grand Committee, which may...

moved Amendment No. 3: Leave out Clause 1. The noble Lord said: My Lords, this is a serious point of principle, and I think this is the only occasion on which I shall be moving something that I would regard as a point of principle. It is a fundamental matter—that is, whether Clause 1 should remain part of...

moved Amendment No. 3: Leave out Clause 1. The noble Lord said: My Lords, this is a serious point of principle, and I think this is the only occasion on which I shall be moving something that I would regard as a point of principle. It is a fundamental matter—that is, whether Clause 1 should remain part of...

My Lords, I endorse everything the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, has said. I think the amendments introduced by the Government—not only those in this group—have enormously improved the Bill, which I think is now, subject to one or two quibbles, fit for purpose and in a state to go to the other...

My Lords, I endorse everything the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, has said. I think the amendments introduced by the Government—not only those in this group—have enormously improved the Bill, which I think is now, subject to one or two quibbles, fit for purpose and in a state to go to the other...

My Lords, I must begin by saying that I am sorry. I am always sorry when I would dearly like to accept an amendment but cannot. I share the sentiments expressed by all noble Lords who have spoken. I appreciate and understand what is being sought by this amendment. I think that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of...

My Lords, I must begin by saying that I am sorry. I am always sorry when I would dearly like to accept an amendment but cannot. I share the sentiments expressed by all noble Lords who have spoken. I appreciate and understand what is being sought by this amendment. I think that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of...

My Lords, this could be the moment to return to it. The principle behind the noble Viscount’s anecdote is absolutely right. Saying, ““I’m sorry””, even if it means, ““I’m sorry I didn’t see you because you just did something stupid””, is as relevant as saying, ““I’m sorry I didn’t see you because...

My Lords, this could be the moment to return to it. The principle behind the noble Viscount’s anecdote is absolutely right. Saying, ““I’m sorry””, even if it means, ““I’m sorry I didn’t see you because you just did something stupid””, is as relevant as saying, ““I’m sorry I didn’t see you because...

My Lords, I find it impossible to understand, given the noble Baroness’s advice, how anyone could say that you cannot distinguish between a mere apology for being the unwitting and unblameful cause of someone being hurt from an apology which contains, as well as that, an admission of guilt through saying,...

My Lords, I find it impossible to understand, given the noble Baroness’s advice, how anyone could say that you cannot distinguish between a mere apology for being the unwitting and unblameful cause of someone being hurt from an apology which contains, as well as that, an admission of guilt through saying,...

My Lords, I apologise to the noble Lord, as I had intended to refer to the NHS Redress Bill. That Bill deals with apologies after liability has been established, not before, so it was difficult to see how we could translate that across to this Bill.

My Lords, I apologise to the noble Lord, as I had intended to refer to the NHS Redress Bill. That Bill deals with apologies after liability has been established, not before, so it was difficult to see how we could translate that across to this Bill.

My Lords, if I may intervene, the noble Baroness can probably answer the two points at the same time. I do not understand from the previous discussion why the common law cannot evolve a definition of what is an okay apology and what is not if it is in the Bill. Surely...

My Lords, if I may intervene, the noble Baroness can probably answer the two points at the same time. I do not understand from the previous discussion why the common law cannot evolve a definition of what is an okay apology and what is not if it is in the Bill. Surely...

My Lords, this has been a very good debate. Rather like the noble Viscount, Lord Bledisloe, I cannot understand how to judge whether this is the best advice. If one goes to parliamentary counsel, who drafted not the Compensation Bill but the NHS Redress Bill, which now allows the National Health Service...

My Lords, this has been a very good debate. Rather like the noble Viscount, Lord Bledisloe, I cannot understand how to judge whether this is the best advice. If one goes to parliamentary counsel, who drafted not the Compensation Bill but the NHS Redress Bill, which now allows the National Health Service...

My Lords, there will be other things later in our deliberations today. However, I also have policy responsibility for this legislation. As it goes through another place, we will continue to discuss all the issues that the noble Earl has quite rightly raised.

My Lords, there will be other things later in our deliberations today. However, I also have policy responsibility for this legislation. As it goes through another place, we will continue to discuss all the issues that the noble Earl has quite rightly raised.

My Lords, before the Minister sits down, will she look at the landowners’ liability at some stage because it would be useful to clarify the law on that?

My Lords, before the Minister sits down, will she look at the landowners’ liability at some stage because it would be useful to clarify the law on that?

My Lords, I am very sorry to hear that the noble Viscount is not going to buy me a new bicycle.

My Lords, I am very sorry to hear that the noble Viscount is not going to buy me a new bicycle.

My Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, in applauding the idea behind the amendment, but I do not share any of his doubts about why it may not be a proper amendment as drafted. He is right to say that one of the problems is that insurance companies say...

My Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, in applauding the idea behind the amendment, but I do not share any of his doubts about why it may not be a proper amendment as drafted. He is right to say that one of the problems is that insurance companies say...

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, was kind but entirely inaccurate to attribute this amendment to me. It has been the common cry of many tens of thousands of people for quite a long time that it should be possible to say sorry. That sentiment is expressed mostly...

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, was kind but entirely inaccurate to attribute this amendment to me. It has been the common cry of many tens of thousands of people for quite a long time that it should be possible to say sorry. That sentiment is expressed mostly...

My Lords, I have a great deal of sympathy with the principle that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, is advancing in his amendment. I have some reservations about whether this is the right way of achieving that result. All of us are aware that some people, when someone treads on their...

My Lords, I have a great deal of sympathy with the principle that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, is advancing in his amendment. I have some reservations about whether this is the right way of achieving that result. All of us are aware that some people, when someone treads on their...

moved Amendment No. 4:"After Clause 1, insert the following new clause—" ““APOLOGIES, OFFERS OF TREATMENT OR OTHER REDRESS    An apology, an offer of treatment or other redress, shall not of itself amount to an admission of negligence or breach of statutory duty.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, we have just debated Clause 1 as...

moved Amendment No. 4:"After Clause 1, insert the following new clause—" ““APOLOGIES, OFFERS OF TREATMENT OR OTHER REDRESS    An apology, an offer of treatment or other redress, shall not of itself amount to an admission of negligence or breach of statutory duty.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, we have just debated Clause 1 as...

moved Amendment No. 8:"Page 2, line 3, at end insert—" ““(   )   Where authorisation is granted to a body corporate or unincorporate, there must be one or more individuals designated as ““approved persons”” for the purposes of this section.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, when we considered Part 2 in Grand Committee against the background of...

moved Amendment No. 8:"Page 2, line 3, at end insert—" ““(   )   Where authorisation is granted to a body corporate or unincorporate, there must be one or more individuals designated as ““approved persons”” for the purposes of this section.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, when we considered Part 2 in Grand Committee against the background of...