Many of us will make new year’s resolutions for 2025. It is the time of year when we take stock of what we have achieved - or not - during the last 12 months, and set our goals for the coming year.
APIL’s resolution for 2025 is simple – to continue campaigning for justice for victims of negligence. Our mission is always to ensure policy makers put victims front and centre of decision making.
The previous Conservative government did much to make paying compensation cheaper for compensators to the detriment of people injured due to negligence.
A new Labour Government took control of the country in the summer, which means APIL has new minsters and MPs it needs to lobby and work with to ensure the rights of injured people are not eroded.
At any given time, we’re formulating evidence-based responses to Government consultations and inquiries in our efforts to protect the law for victims of negligence, as well as our own proactive lobbying. In the past year alone, APIL’s campaign work has been mentioned 11 times in Parliamentary debates by MPs and Peers.
We have lobbied parliamentarians consistently for reform of the outdated law on statutory bereavement damages to get this issue on the parliamentary agenda. The work will continue in earnest into 2025. Details on this and our other key proactive campaigns can be found here.
The new year will also mark 10 years since APIL and FOIL jointly launched the hugely successful Serious Injury Guide, and a stakeholder workshop will be held in February when there will be presentations from the steering committee and supporters of the guide.
2025 also needs to be the year, when key recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) are addressed. These include abolishing the three-year time limitation for abuse survivors to pursue a claim for damages. The limitation is a needless legal hurdle for victims to scale.
The inquiry also recommended setting up a redress scheme. Meaningful consultation on the detail of this proposed scheme needs to take place. Survivors of abuse are a unique and extremely vulnerable category of claimant. After such a detailed and lengthy inquiry, it is time for words to become actions.
If you’re making resolutions this year include one to support APIL’s Rebuilding Shattered Lives campaign, which uses real life accounts from injured people to show why it’s vital to put the needs of victims of negligence at the heart of policymaking.
The team at APIL is keen to hear from any member who feels they might have a client who could support the campaign by sharing their story of how they got their life back on track after serious injury, as Rusty Brown did in the latest Rebuilding Shattered Lives campaign film. Email APIL’s communications manager Jane Hartwell at [email protected] in the first instance.
Thank you to all our members and colleagues for your continued support which is vital to our campaign work. Wishing you a happy Christmas and new year.
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