Former Labour MP for Barnsley West and Penistone
My right hon. Friend will be aware that, on 1 October 2008, we introduced a modified pneumoconiosis scheme. That allows a miner who was employed by British Coal to claim a compensation payment, either under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers' Compensation) Act 1979 or the 1974 scheme. However, is he aware that a man who has been employed in the private sector since 1994 can claim only under...
May I take this opportunity to thank the Government for their recent series of changes to the way in which we will be dealing with asbestos-related diseases? Many of the victims will be grateful for the action that the Government have taken. Will the Prime Minister overturn the Law Lords' decision on pleural plaques when new medical evidence becomes available to him as Prime Minister after...
The Minister will be aware that the motor sport industry in the UK is a world leader. However, it is 10 years since the Government commissioned any research on the industry. Will he consider an up-to-date survey to ensure that the UK keeps its lead in the motor sport industry?
I refer the Minister to the IIAC report, which prescribes the disease purely because the risk of a miner developing it is twice that of a member of the general population. There is not that much difference between the pneumoconiosis scheme and the one that I am proposing. If he is afraid that such a scheme might lead to two payments if a person goes on to take out a civil action, he could...
In this short debate, I want to make three points. First, osteoarthritis of the knee is a painful condition. Miners who suffer from it are getting older and there is a need for a speedy scheme for processing their compensation. Secondly, and related to the first point, the National Coal Board and its successors knew from the 1950s that certain working conditions in coal mines caused the...
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point, and I have no doubt that the Minister has taken it on board. As he knows, the COPD scheme came into being and started to be constructed following a High Court action in 1998. Here we are, 12 years after it began to be implemented, yet we have not made all the payments to claimants under the scheme. That gives an idea of how long it can...
My hon. Friend will be aware that there have been 592,000 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claims and 170,000 vibration white finger claims. In other words, 750,000 claims have gone through his Department, so a great deal of experience in them will have been gained. Will he ensure that in future, if there is a potential liability relating to a prescribed disease in the mining industry,...
Last week, I met a group of members of a miners' support group to discuss the application of industrial injuries disablement benefit for osteoarthritis of the knee, and they complained of wide variations between assessments given throughout the regions. Will my Ministers ask their medical advisers to look at the medical process to ensure that it is applied uniformly at centres throughout the...
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent progress his Department has made towards establishing a network of research practitioners for asbestos-related diseases.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects his Department to provide updated leaflets with information for those with mesothelioma.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many miners' claims relating to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease remain to be settled; and when he expects the compensation scheme to end.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether those instructed to act for his Department in litigation relating to miner's knee have made an assessment of the prospects of success of defending the claims.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what expenditure his Department has incurred to date on preparing for miner's knee litigation.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's connecting communities programme.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his overseas counterparts on the Iranian nuclear programme.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 10 November 2009, Official Report, columns 298-9W, on industrial diseases: compensation, if she will make the guidance provided to ATOS Healthcare doctors available to the coal mining trade unions and their solicitors.
