§ 33. Mr. James Lamondasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will take steps to ensure that delayed payments made under the Pneumoconiosis Etc. (Workers Compensation) Act 1979 will have interest added to the amount paid.
§ Mr. WaddingtonNo. Payments are not delayed any longer than is necessary to establish that all the conditions of eligibility are satisfied.
In 1981 certain payments were made which had previously been refused because the Department decided on counsel's advice to make some payments when former employers were still in business on the ground that they were not relevant employers. This was a relaxation of the eligibility conditions and it would not have been right or practicable to make individual interest payments in such cases, or in those where, for example, we exercise our discretion to accept late applications.