§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for Defence if, in the light of the finding of a Department of Health and Social Services tribunal in 1979 that Mr. Thomas Griffiths, a former employee at the Department's chemical defence establishment, Nancekuke, Cornwall, was suffering from a large range of illnesses as a result of nerve gas poisoning, and in view of other evidence submitted to his Department, he will review the payment of £110 paid to Mr. Griffiths in 1976 with a view to providing substantial additional compensation.
§ Mr. PattieNo. The DHSS tribunal was concerned with the question of a disability award, and its finding did not render ineffective the outcome of the legal proceedings110W which Mr. Griffiths had already taken against my Department. Mr. Griffiths has since 1979 made representations to the Secretary of State for Defence, other Ministers, and to Her Majesty The Queen. All of these have been carefully considered and Mr. Griffiths has been informed on each occasion that it is not intended that the settlement which was the outcome of the legal proceedings should be reconsidered or that any further payment should be made to him.
§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to order a new investigation into the claim for compensation made to his Department by Mr. Thomas Griffiths in respect of his accidental exposure to nerve gas when at work in the chemical defence establishment at Nancekuke in 1958, in view of the degree of disability that is now apparent, and the finding of a Department of Health and Social Services tribunal in 1979.
§ Mr. PattieNo. Mr. Griffiths' claim was finalised in 1976 when his solicitors took out the payment which the Department had made into court in relation to his claim.