§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many and which recommendations of the Pearson committee stand referred to the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council; and what response that council has made to date on these recommendations;
(2) how many sub-committees of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council there are and what field of inquiry each considers;
(3) on what date the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council last met; on how many occasions it met in 1979; and when is the date of its next meeting.
§ Mr. PrenticeThe last meeting of the full Council was on 8 May 1978 and no date has been fixed for the next meeting. I understand that the Council's longstanding practice is to hold only occasional formal meetings and for its business to be carried out by one or more sub-committees. It currently has two subcommittees, both of which last met on 25 January and which are to meet again on 21 March and 1 May.
One sub-committee—which met eight times in 1979—is considering two references arising from the recommendations of the Pearson commission: first, a full 353W review of the schedule of prescribed industrial diseases, and, secondly, a study of whether compensation should be extended to any individual who can show that his disease is occupational in origin and a particular risk of his occupation. The Council has not yet reported on these questions and I can add nothing to my reply to the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) on 13 December 1979—[Vol. 975, c. 784–9.]
The other sub-committee—which met seven times in 1979—is currently considering two further references concerning the possible prescription of occupational asthma and vibration white finger as in-
NUMBER OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS* PER 1,000 POPULATION AS AT 1 OCTOBER: 1975 TO 1979 … 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979† Great Britain … 0.48 0.49 0.50 0.50 0.51 England … 0.47 0.48 0.48 0.49 0.50 Northern RHA … 0.45 0.45 0.46 0.47 0.47 Yorkshire RHA … 0.45 0.46 0.47 0.47 0.49 Trent RHA … 0.43 0.44 0.45 0.46 0.46 East Anglia RHA … 0.47 0.48 0.49 0.50 0.51 North West Thames RHA … 0.53 0.53 0.55 0.55 0.56 North East Thames RHA … 0.50 0.51 0.51 0.52 0.51 South East Thames RHA … 0.49 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.52 South West Thames RHA … 0.51 0.51 0.52 0.52 0.52 Wessex RHA … 0.48 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.52 Oxford RHA … 0.46 0.46 0.49 0.48 0.49 South Western RHA … 0.51 0.51 0.52 0.53 0.54 West Midlands RHA … 0.45 0.45 0.46 0.46 0.48 Mersey RHA … 0.44 0.45 0.46 0.48 0.48 North Western RHA … 0.44 0.45 0.45 0.47 0.47 Wales … 0.50 0.49 0.50 0.51 0.52 Scotland … 0.58 0.59 0.60 0.61 0.62 Greater Manchester‡ … 0.45 0.46 0.46 0.48 0.48 * Includes unrestricted principals, restricted principals, assistants and trainees. † Provisional and based on 1978 population estimates. ‡ Derived from data for the 10 Family Practitioner Committees contained in the Greater Manchester Metropolitan County.