The Government is proposing to force more workers injured in England and Wales through the small claims court by doubling the threshold to £2,000. They have rejected a reasonable and fair compromise of raising the threshold to £1,500, which is backed by the independent cross-party Justice Select Committee.
 
Although the Bill falls within the English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) procedure, it does impact upon any Scottish resident who is injured while working or visiting England or Wales. EVEL does not prevent Scottish MPs from voting at report stage and third reading of the Bill.
 
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “We have met with SNP representatives and they have confirmed that they share our concerns about the Civil Liability Bill, particularly about the effect on Scottish residents who are injured when in England and Wales. The SNP have confirmed they will be participating in tomorrow’s report stage, outlining their concerns.
 
“Many thousands of Scottish citizens, including our members in sectors such as distribution, will be subject to these unfair proposals should they be unfortunate enough to suffer injury when working in England or Wales. We are not convinced that the Government has thought through the implications for Scottish residents. We hope that Scottish MPs will help address this issue when the Civil Liability Bill is debated tomorrow in the House of Commons.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 435,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion