The following has been
supplied by the TUC:
The
TUC
has condemned the reintroduction of proposals to cut compensation for workers
who are the victims of crime through their work. Proposals to slash payments
were introduced by the government earlier this yet and then withdrawn in
September following cross-party opposition. They have now been hurriedly
reintroduced in exactly the same form as before, despite a promise to
reconsider the proposals and bring them back 'in a better form'. The changes,
if implemented, will end payments for claims below £2,500 and significantly
reduce payments for claims below £11,000. Payments for loss of future earnings,
which currently reflect what a person would have been able to earn during his
lifetime, will also be limited to an amount equivalent to statutory sick pay
under the proposed scheme. Some groups such as victims of dog attacks, or train
drivers affected by suicides on the tracks, will also lose out completely. TUC
head of health and safety, Hugh Robertson said 'This is yet another attack on
workers compensation from a government obsessed with shifting the blame for
injuries caused though work on to the employee.' Karl Tonks, president of the
Association of Personal Injury Lawyers added 'It beggars belief that the
Government has not amended the very proposals which attracted widespread
criticism from Conservative and Labour MPs, as well as vulnerable victims of
crime. The impression this gives is that the Government wants to push these
unpopular cuts through, regardless of what the public or some other members of
the Government think. It's important that victims of violent crime are given
financial redress to help them get back to their feet, particularly if they are
unable to return to work.'
