Torsten Bell

Whether compensation is provided via income or lump sums is obviously part of the compensation schemes, but I would be happy to have a conversation with the hon. Gentleman about that. I do not know enough about the specifics of Pauline’s case to say how that would have played out, but it is the scheme rules, rather than the benefit system itself, that determine lump sum payments or ongoing payments. More broadly, I just want to say that I absolutely hear the hon. Member’s arguments and have done so on a number of occasions. I have also heard them from Pauline and from her family. I hear his clear request for the Government to change the regulations, and I recognise the power of those arguments. He has asked a straight question. I think the most I can do for him is to give him a straight answer: the Government are not in a position to change the regulations. I am not in a position to give him the first answer that he would like tonight, but he at least deserves a straight answer. This is a long-standing position, for the reasons I have set out. It is about the consistency of how the benefit system deals with a very large and growing number of compensation payments, all of which have similar issues to the ones we are discussing.