EQUITABLE LIFE COMPENSATION

That this House is delighted that the Government has decided to implement the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman's recommendations to make fair and transparent payments to Equitable Life policyholders via an independent payment scheme for their relative loss as a consequence of regulatory failure; notes that the unchallenged estimates of loses published by the Ombudsman in her 2008 Report was estimated as being worth at least £4.7 billion; and expects therefore that the Government will, because of the proven maladministration involved in this matter, will now meet in full their responsibilities to Equitable Life victims, many of whom are now elderly and infirm and who have been plagued for many years by this issue.