Mr. A. RAMSAYasked the Home Secretary if he is aware that workers contracting an industrial disease cannot claim workmen's compensation without a certificate from the medical representative of the Home Office; that such certificate costs the worker 5s.; and whether he will remove this disability and place victims of industrial disease on the same footing as other insured workers who obtain medical treatment under the Health Insurance Acts?
§ Mr. HACKINGThe Act provides in such cases that the workman must, unless the employer dispenses with it, obtain a certificate from the certifying factory surgeon. This system, which has been in force ever since the Act of 1906, is designed to prevent disputes between employer and workman by providing for certification by an independent doctor with special knowledge of industrial disease, and this would not, I think, be achieved if certification by the workman's own medical adviser were substituted. I would further point out with reference to the obligation on the workman to pay the fee, that whereas under the Health Insurance Acts weekly contributions are paid by the workers, under the Workmen's Compensation Act the whole of the compensation is found by the employer.