The Regulatory Reform (Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979) Order 2002

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order is made under section 1 of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001. It reduces the burdens imposed by the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 (“the Act”) by making amendments to the Act.

Article 1 provides for citation, commencement, extent and interpretation.

Article 2 amends section 1(4) of the Act to provide that “severely disabled” shall be defined as disablement to the extent of 60 per cent. or more.

Article 3 substitutes section 3(1)(c) of the Act to provide that a claim under the Act must be made before whichever is the later of the date on which the disabled person attains the age of 21, or, where he has died, would have attained that age, and the end of a period of 6 years beginning on the date of the vaccination against the disease to which the claim relates.

Article 4 and the Schedule make transitional provision to enable claims to be made under the Act in certain circumstances where claims have been or, had they been made, would have been, rejected or not considered under the provisions in force prior to the coming into force of the amendments made by this Order.

Article 5 makes a consequential amendment to section 7B(1) of the Act, to refer to the transitional provision made in article 4 and the Schedule.