Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2018 to Question 139426 on the Personal Injury Discount Rate consultation, what the reasons were for the time taken by the Government to publish its response to that consultation.

The Government published the consultation paper: “Damages Act 1996: the discount rate: review of the legal framework” on 12 February 2013, and its response to the consultation on 30^th March 2017.

The department would usually hope to reply to its consultations in a timely manner. However, in this instance in the light of the need for further consideration to be given to the issues raised it was not in a position to do so.

The Government has now set out its approach to reforming the setting of the discount rate in the Civil Liability Bill, which is currently at Committee stage in the House of Lords.