HC Deb 22 June 1994 vol 245 cc186-7W
Mr. Tipping

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims have been made in Nottinghamshire for industrial injuries disablement benefit for emphysema and chronic bronchitis; how many have been successful; and how many and, on what grounds, have been refused.

Mr. Scott

The administration of industrial injuries disablement benefit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Paddy Tipping, dated 21 June 1994: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking about claims to Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) for chronic bronchitis and emphysema Prescribed Disease (D12) in Nottinghamshire. Firstly, I would like to explain that there are two stages to the take on of claims for prescribed disease D12 (known as chronic bronchitis and emphysema), for which industrial injuries disablement benefit has been available since 13 September 1993 for people who have worked for at least 20 years underground in a coal mine. Stage 1 was restricted to claims from people who were aged 70 or over on 13 September 1993 or had an award of higher rate Disability Living Allowance care component or higher rate Attendance Allowance. Stage 1 ended on 28 February 1994; stage 2 commenced from 1 March and is open to anybody to claim. All claims are considered for payment from 13 September 1993. The information is not available in the precise format requested. This is because statistics are maintained by Benefits Agency (BA) Branch Offices and Districts whose boundaries do not correspond exactly with those of counties. I have therefore tabled, in the attached appendix, statistics which relate to the BA Districts of East and West Nottinghamshire and the Mansfield Branch Office which deal mainly with the Nottinghamshire area. It should be noted that these figures will include some people living outside the Nottinghamshire area. The figures have been obtained from a 100 per cent. count as of 12 June 1994 and may be subject to amendment. I hope you find this reply helpful.

Appendix Claims to industrial injuries disablement benefit for prescribed disease D12 (Chronic bronchitis and emphysema) in the Nottinghamshire area)
Number
Claims being proceeded with 4,452
Successful claims 362
Disallowed on prescription 92
Regulation 22 cases1 13
Assessed at 1 to 13 per cent.2 1
Not diagnosed 3,261
1Where an applicant is already receiving IIDB in respect of PD D1 (pneumoconiosis) and has been assessed at over 50 per cent. disablement with chronic bronchitis and emphysema as a contributory factor.
2IIDB not payable for assessments under 14 per cent.

Notes:

1. The above figures do not include 66 cases where the claim was returned to the customer to claim at the correct time but they have not reclaimed yet.

2. Source 100 per cent. count and subject to amendment.