§ 94 and 95. Mr. Grenfellasked the Minister of National Insurance (1) whether, in view of the inducements put forward by insurance companies to discharge their liabilities towards workmen 413W suffering from accidents or industrial disease in the South Wales coalfields, he will make a statement regarding the future position of men whose cases have been acknowledged and who are at present in receipt of weekly compensation from their employers;
(2) whether his attention has been called to the number of men certified to be disabled from silicosis in the South Wales coalfield; and what he is doing to safeguard their position, in view of the pressure put upon them to accept lump sums which are inadequate as compensation for their loss of earning capacity.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsI have sympathy with the cases my hon. Friend has in mind. I do not however contemplate legislation to restrict employers' statutory rights to redeem their liability for weekly payments. As regards the adequacy of lump sums paid under settlement by agreement, my hon. Friend will be aware that the County Court judge or registrar has power to refuse to register an agreement if he regards the sum as too small.
It is important that the workmen concerned should know that the right to an unemployability allowance and a constant attendance allowance proposed by the Industrial Injuries Bill, for cases of accident which occurred before the new scheme comes into operation, will not apply to cases which have been finally settled before that date. I have also indicated that the possibility of extending the full benefits of the new scheme to past cases is still under investigation, but it should be clearly understood that cases which have been finally settled cannot get the benefit of any such arrangement.