§ Lord Chappleasked Her Majesty's Government:
- 1. How many claims for compensation have been made by—
- (a) teaching staff
- (b) non-teaching staff against local education authorities in respect of asbestos-related illnesses;
- 2. How many claims are still outstanding; and
- 3. How many teachers have died as a result of developing asbestos-related illnesses.
Lord LucasInformation on the number of compensation claims made against local education authorities in respect of asbestos-related diseases is not held centrally.
Between 1982 and 1991, the latest year for which figures are available, 52 death certificates mentioning mesothelioma recorded teaching as the last full-time occupation of the deceased. There is normally a long latency period between first exposure to asbestos and the development of mesothelioma. It is seldom less than 15 years and can be as long as 60 years. It is likely that in many of the cases mentioned above exposure to asbestos did not take place in the last full-time occupation. In addition, it is estimated that about 100 cases of mesothelioma a year are not attributable to exposure to asbestos.
Records of deaths attributable to asbestos-related diseases other than mesothelioma do not record the occupations of the deceased.
Similar data for 1992 and later years are expected to become available towards the end of 1995, when the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys' new database becomes fully operational.