Summary and Background
3.The Act contains 5 sections.
4.The Act makes provision about civil liability for negligence and for certain breaches of a statutory duty. It is general in its application so could apply to claims against individuals or organisations (including employers). At present a court considering a claim in negligence must determine whether the defendant acted reasonably, taking into account all the circumstances of the case. A court will also take into account all the relevant circumstances in determining whether a defendant was in breach of a duty of care imposed by statute. A substantial body of case law has established the kinds of factors which might be relevant to such determinations. In addition section 1 of the Compensation Act 2006 confirms that, in considering what was necessary to meet a standard of care in a particular case, the court can look at whether a particular requirement might prevent a desirable activity being carried out to any extent or discourage people from undertaking functions in relation to such an activity.
5.The provisions of the Act do not change this overarching framework but require a court which is determining what was required to meet the standard of care in a specific case to have regard to the matters mentioned in sections 2 to 4 of the Act. The Act does not preclude the court from having regard to any other relevant factors or from deciding what weight to give to each of the relevant matters in determining whether the standard of care has been met.
6.There is some evidence that people are deterred from participating in socially useful activities due to worries about risk or liability. For example, “Helping Out: A national survey of volunteering and charitable giving” in 2006/2007(1) found this was one of the main reasons(2) cited by respondents to the survey who did not currently volunteer. The Act forms part of the Coalition Government’s wider programme to encourage participation in civil society and the Coalition Agreement contained a specific commitment to “take a range of measures to encourage volunteering and involvement in social action”.(3)