Government Response to the Committee’s Third Report Pre-legislative scrutiny: draft personal injury discount rate clause

This is the government's response, published 20 April 2018.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the Committee's report and states that it has chosen to adopt many of its recommendations, while not accepting the view that its evidence is insufficient to justify the proposed reforms.

• It accepts that the expert panel should take part in the first review, that the Lord Chancellor should give reasons for the rate, that the panel's report should be published, and that the panel quorum should be four.
• It does not accept that its evidence is insufficient, and does not consider that reform "should be delayed pending a further evidence gathering exercise". It also considers a power to amend the statutory assumptions "undesirable in this instance".
• It commits to seek further evidence for the first review, including a further call for evidence and further analysis commissioned from the Government Actuary's Department.
• It declines to specify that the rate should sit in the lower part of the range or to target median compensation, and says it will prepare impact assessments to accompany secondary legislation every time the rate is changed.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error