§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in how many cases payment of claims in respect of chronic bronchitis and emphysema suffered by former miners have been made to their widows. [111414]
§ Mrs. LiddellAs at 20 February the Department has made bereavement award payments to 1,851 widows amounting to over £16 million. In addition some 2,500 widows of miners who were in receipt of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema have received interim payments of £2,000 each.
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many medical tests were carried out under the Miners Compensation Scheme in Scotland in(a) 1999, (b) January 2000 and (c) February 2000 to date, on ex-miners seeking compensation for emphysema and other respiratory diseases. [111415]
§ Mrs. Liddell[holding answer 22 February 2000]: To date over 3,200 ex-miners have undergone lung function tests at one of the four centres established in Scotland by Healthcall, the company contracted to carry out the lung function programme.