§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken to ensure that additional staff resources are provided to clear any backlog of claims for disability pensions owing to restricted access to the Public Record Office archive at Hayes.
§ Mr. HanleyIn addition to the normal, full, staffing levels, a futher nine full-time staff are currently employed on casual contracts and will remain so while a backlog of claims exist. In addition, overtime is being worked seven days a week.
§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there will be unrestricted access to the Public Record Office archive at Hayes to enable the backlog of claims for disability pensions to be progressed.
§ Mr. HanleyThere has been unrestricted access to the Public Record Office archive at Hayes since the end of February.
§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims for disability pensions have been delayed as a result of the asbestos contamination at the Public Record Office archive at Hayes; how many of these claims have been outstanding for more than(a) six months, (b) 12 months and (c) 24 months; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HanleyThe amount of war pension claims delayed as a result of the recent closure of the archives at Hayes numbered approximately 30,000 in total.
Apart from a small number of individual cases of particular complexity which could be separately identified only at disproportionate cost, the archives' backlogs are now rather less than six months and already as little as two months in some areas.