§ Mr. Johnasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will extend the grant of industrial death benefit to the dependants of men who received special hardship allowance by reason of pneumoconiosis.
§ Mr. DeanIndustrial death benefit is already payable in these cases where death can be attributed to pneumoconiosis. There would be no justification for paying the benefit where this condition is not satisfied.
§ Mr. Johnasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many pneumoconiosis claims rejected by the Pneumoconiosis Medical Panel in 1970 and 1971 were found by the panel to be suffering from bronchitis and emphysema, respectively.
§ Mr. Johnasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will seek to amend the Workmen's Compensation Acts to institute a right of appeal and machinery to determine such an appeal in cases of deaths alleged to be due to pneumoconiosis.
44Wyears under the headings nursing, medical, administrative, clerical and general.
§ Sir K. JosephAvailable information is set out in the following table.
§ Mr. DeanNo. In such cases, the question whether death is due to pneumoconiosis is determined by an independent body—the Silicosis Medical Board—composed of doctors who are expert in this field.
§ Mr. Johnasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will extend death benefit under the Workmen's Compensation Acts to cover those whose deaths were accelerated by pneumoconiosis.
§ Mr. DeanNo. It is for the Silicosis Medical Board to decide in these cases whether death was caused by the disease. It has been held by the board that this criterion is satisfied where death has been materially accelerated by the disease.
§ Mr. Johnasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of claims for benefit heard by pneumoconiosis medical panels in 1970 and 1971; and what was the proportion of claims which were successful.
§ Mr. DeanThe normal procedure is that claimants are X-rayed by a pneumoconiosis medical panel, and then, if the X-ray film suggests any possibility of pneumoconiosis they are seen by a pneumoconiosis medical board which decides whether they are suffering from the disease.
In 1970, 9,351 claimants under the Industrial Injuries Act were X-rayed by panels, 3,177 were seen by boards and 1,110 were diagnosed as suffering from pneumoconiosis. The corresponding figures for 1971 were 9,233, 2,855 and 900.
§ Mr. Johnasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the number of appeals heard by the Central Pneumoconiosis Medical Board from each 45W Pneumoconiosis Medical Panel, indicating how many of the appeals were successful and how many unsuccessful, in each of the years 1970 and 1971;and what are the 1972 figures to date.
§ Mr. DeanThe following table shows, for each penumoconiosis medical panel
1970 1971 1972 Panel area Boarded Diagnosed Boarded Diagnosed Boarded Diagnosed Birmingham … 5 — — — 1 — Cardiff … … 5 2 4 — 3 — Glasgow … … 5 — 3 — 2 — London … … 3 1 2 — 2 1 Manchester … 6 1 3 1 — — Newcastle … … — — — — — — Sheffield … … 8 1 5 1 — — Stoke on Trent … 3 — — — — — Swansea … … 4 — 1 1 1 1 Totals … … 39 5 18 3 11 2