Mr Bates, who is part of the Group Litigation Order Scheme, said it was “bogged down” in red tape.
Appearing before the Business and Trade Committee, he agreed with the description by chairman Liam Byrne that officials processing compensation schemes were “not busting a gut”.
On his own claim, he said: “I think it was 53 days before they asked three very simple questions. It’s madness, the whole thing is madness. And there’s no transparency behind it, which is even more frustrating. We do not know what’s happening to these cases once they disappear in there.”
Appearing before the Business and Trade Committee, he agreed with the description by chairman Liam Byrne that officials processing compensation schemes were “not busting a gut”.
On his own claim, he said: “I think it was 53 days before they asked three very simple questions. It’s madness, the whole thing is madness. And there’s no transparency behind it, which is even more frustrating. We do not know what’s happening to these cases once they disappear in there.”
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NewsTranscript
00:00 People have spent a lot of time again with their lawyers. Their lawyers have got their cases
00:06 already sorted. In many instances, their cases have been submitted to the department,
00:12 but they're sat there. They're not moving through. I mean, recently, well, so we were
00:18 given assurances that after 40 working days that cases would receive a first offer. Well,
00:27 generally, I know that most people haven't had a first offer. I can speak first-hand about my
00:33 personal case. I mean, that was submitted towards the beginning of October. I mean, today,
00:40 it will be the 66th day, working day, allowing for Christmas and New Year, that I'm still waiting for
00:48 my first offer. And I'm being told that I won't receive anything or a first offer until the end
00:55 of this month, which will be 77 working days, or almost double the expected time.
01:02 After everything you've been through, after all of this time, the delays are still dragging on.
01:09 Yeah, I mean, I hear a lot of stories about that lawyers, sorry, government lawyers, or the firms
01:20 that governments are using for lawyers, are not happy about working extra hours or working at
01:26 weekends or working evenings. There obviously isn't enough of a resource being put in at that
01:33 end, at that end, to actually deal with these cases. And that's what's really frustrating.
01:39 I know the lawyers that I'm using, which are dealing with a lot of cases, have a huge team
01:45 working on, and they're piling the cases through, but they're just not moving. They hit a dead end
01:52 once they go into the department. So are you saying that the people who are processing the claim
01:58 are not busting a gut to actually get the job done?
02:02 Oh, gosh, yes. I mean, after my claim got in, and mine's just in the queue like everyone else's,
02:13 not being dealt with specially at all. But I mean, after mine had gone in, it took them,
02:18 I think it was 53 days before they asked three very simple questions. I mean, it's madness. The
02:27 whole thing is madness. It's not being driven. And there's no transparency behind it, which is
02:32 even more frustrating. We do not know what's happening to these cases once they disappear in
02:39 there. I mean, I know we like red tape in this country. But I mean, this is
02:43 insane. No, it's bogged down. Absolutely bogged down with red tape.
02:48 Julie Masterman.
02:50 Thank you very much, Chair, and welcome to you both.
02:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]