Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 6 August 2020 (HL7091), what assessment they have made regarding the payment of clinical negligence damages in 2019/20 with regard to (1) the value for money, and (2) the quality, of the legal representation used by the NHS.

NHS Resolution has continued to increase the use of mediation and alternative dispute resolution to avoid the need for formal proceedings. NHS Resolution settles a majority of claims without court proceedings - in 2019/20, this was 75.1%. Less than 1% of all claims proceed to trial and NHS Resolution achieves a judgement in favour of the National Health Service in 75.3% of that subset of claims. NHS Resolution also negotiates large-scale contracts for its legal services, including fixed and capped fee arrangements, competitive hourly rates and performance management, ensuring value for money and a high quality service.