HC Deb 29 October 1956 vol 558 cc104-6W
1956 Mr. T. Brown

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (1) what, in tabular form, was 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 of claims allowed, the number disallowed, the amount of money paid out to each case during the period from 10th March, 1952, up to and including 30th September, 1956, under the Pneumoconiosis and Byssinosis Scheme, which became operative on 10th March, 1952, and the total amounts of benefits paid out;

(2) what was the number of claims made, the number of claims allowed, the number of claims disallowed under the Pneumoconiosis and Byssinosis Scheme, 1954, which became operative on 8th November, 1954, up to and including 30th September, 1956.

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
(a) Includes 803 existing beneficiaries taken over from the former benefit schemes.

Between 8th November, 1954, and 30th September, 1956, 13,424 claims were made on top of the 547 claims which were outstanding on 8th November, 1954. As a result of these 13,971 claims, 5,657 awards had been made for partial disablement and 707 for total disablement. 6,736 claims had been disallowed and 871 were outstanding on 30th September, 1956. The figures for each year were :

1954 (from 8th November) 1955 1956 (up to 30th September) Total
Claims received 4,815 (b) 6,141 3,015 13,971 (b)
Claims allowed :
(i) total disablement 40 432 235 707
(ii) partial disablement 1,313 3,067 1,277 5,657
Claims disallowed 364 4,561 1,811 6,736
Claims outstanding at end of period 3,098 1,179 871 871
(b) Includes 547 claims outstanding on 8th November, 1954.

Death claims up to 30th September,

1952 (from 10th March) 1953 1954 1955 1956 (up to 30th September) Total
Claims received 860 582 587 718 590 3,337
Claims allowed 458 399 367 394 363 1,981
Claims disallowed 237 239 230 299 239 1,244
Claims outstanding at end of period 165 109 99 124 112 112
(2) AMOUNTS PAID TO THE LATEST AVAILABLE DATE
Class of case Period 10th March, 1952, to 31st March, 1952 Financial year 1952–53 Financial year 1953–54 Financial year 1954–55 Period 10th March, 1952, to 31st March, 1955
£ £ £ £ £
Disablement Allowances 5,000 275,034 300,364 375,000 955,398
Death Benefit 114,966 94,636 86,645 296,247
Total 5,000 390,000 395,000 461,645 1,251,645

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

The following is the Answer :