HC Deb 18 July 1980 vol 988 cc745-6W
Mr. Cartwright

asked the Attorney-General how many cases were brought to court by gas and electricity boards in England and Wales for recovery of debts owed by domestic consumers during each

of pleural mesothelioma in the United Kingdom and which industries are involved; and what special steps are now being taken to avoid it.

Mr. Mayhew

I have been asked to reply.

Information is not available in the precise form requested, but the following table details the numbers of death certificates mentioning mesothelioma for the years 1968 to 1977, the latest year for which the information is available, within Great Britain.

of the most recent five years for which information is available.

The Solicitor-General

I regret that the information is not available. It could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost by asking the staff of every county court in England and Wales to check manually all of the approximately 1,400,000 plaints issued during each of the last five years.