Westminster Diary - 1st February 2010

Monday, 1st February 2010

Last month’s cold and snowy weather rendered some of our pavements impassable, which in turn made many of our most vulnerable people prisoners in their own homes. Speaking in the House of Lords, the Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, said that the conditions demanded “a big dose of common sense and generosity”. Many people provided just that by checking in on elderly neighbours and picking up provisions for the housebound. No doubt many people would have liked to have done more, such as clear the pavements on their street of snow. There was, however, general dismay that many people did not do this out of fear that if somebody should slip, they themselves could be sued for negligence. It appears to me that the generosity Lord Adonis and the Government ask of people is there, but when it comes to the law, the common sense is not. For this reason, I introduced a 10 Minute Rule Bill in the House of Commons to give greater protection against litigation to those undertaking a ‘desirable activity’, like clearing snow.

People should not be deterred from doing the right thing by a fear that the law would not support them if they did. Surely people taking it upon themselves to clear pavements of snow is an example of the sort of good neighbourliness and sense of social responsibility we want to see more of in this country?

At the moment, the law does provide a degree of protection to people in these circumstances. When considering a negligence claim, a court may have regard to whether a requirement to meet the relevant standard of care might discourage people from undertaking a desirable activity.

The purpose of my Bill is to strengthen this protection by stipulating that a court considering a claim of negligence must apply a presumption that defendants undertaking a desirable activity have satisfied the relevant standard of care.

The Bill would not, of course, prevent those whose behaviour was unreasonable from being sued for negligence but I believe it would tilt the balance in favour of those who are engaged in the sort of helpful, community-minded activities we all want to encourage.

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Updated on Monday, 1st February 2010