§ 62 and 63. Mr. T. Brownasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (1) to state, in tabular form, the number of claims made, the number of claims allowed, and the number of claims disallowed for disablement benefits; the number of claims made for death benefits, the number disallowed, and the number allowed; and the amount of money paid out to each class of case during the period from 10th March, 1952,
PNEUMOCONIOSIS AND BYSSINOSIS BENEFIT SCHEME (1) NUMBER OF CLAIMS ANALYSED BY RESULT Disablement claims Up to 7th November, 1954, when the Scheme was extended to include cases of partial disablement, 11,361 claims to disablement allowance were made; as a result, 3,808 awards had been made, 7,006 claims had been disallowed and 547 claims were outstanding on 7th November, 1954. The figures for each year were: 1952 (from 10th March) 1953 1954 (up to 7th November) Total Claims received 5,586 (a) 3,587 2,188 11,361 (a) Claims allowed 2,179 (a) 1,148 481 3,808 (a) Claims disallowed 2,153 2,850 2,003 7,006 Claims outstanding at end of period 1,254 843 547 547 (a) Includes 803 existing beneficiaries taken over from the former benefit schemes.
Between 8th November, 1954, and 26th March, 1955, 6,322 claims were made on top of the 547 claims which were outstanding on 8th November. As a result of these 6,869 claims, 2,152 awards had been made for partial disablement and 142 for total disablement. 2,096 claims had been disallowed and 2,479 claims were outstanding on 26th March.
Death claims up to 26th March, 1955 1952 (from 10th March) 1953 1954 1955 (up to 26th March) Total Claims received 860 582 587 243 2,272 Claims allowed 458 399 367 60 1,284 Claims disallowed 237 239 230 83 789 Claims outstanding at end of period 165 109 99 199 199
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(2) AMOUNTS PAID TO THE LATEST AVAILABLE DATE Class of Case Period 10th March, 1952–31st March, 1952 Financial year 1952–3 Financial year 1953–4 (provisional) Period 10th March, 1952–31st March, 1954 £ £ £ £ Disablement Allowances 5,000 275,034 300,364 580,398 Death Benefit — 114,966 94,636 209,602 TOTAL 5,000 390,000 395,000 790,000 up to and including 31st Match, 1955, under the Pneumoconiosis and Byssinosis Scheme, which came into operation on 10th March, 1952; and the total amount of benefits paid out;
(2) to state the number of claims made, the number of claims allowed and the number of claims disallowed under the Pneumoconiosis and Byssinosis Scheme, 1954, which became operative on 8th November, 1954, up to and including 31st March, 1955.
§ Mr. MarplesThe figures are as follows:
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§ 64. Mr. T. Brownasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will take steps to speed up the examinations of men who are suspected to be suffering from pneumoconiosis, in view of the long waiting list in many of the centres.
§ Mr. MarplesI am not aware that there is any general delay in these examinations. Perhaps the hon. Member would let me have the information which prompted him to put the Question.