Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce conditional fee arrangements for defence lawyers in clinical negligence cases; and what assessment they have made of the impact such action would have in terms of (1) cost savings, and (2) parity between parties.

NHS Resolution has no plans to introduce conditional fee arrangements for defence lawyers in clinical negligence cases.

NHS Resolution negotiates large-scale contracts for defendant legal services, using its position as a bulk purchaser to obtain the best expertise, including support for NHS Resolution’s work to learn from claims to improve safety, at value for money for the National Health Service. The contracts include fixed and capped fee arrangements and competitive hourly rates. NHS Resolution monitors and measures its lawyers’ performance through Key Performance Indicators and management information.