§ 53. Mr. Swinglerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will carry out a special survey of informed medical opinion in the coalmining areas on the causation of chronic bronchitis and emphysema and their association with pneumoconiosis and the adequacy or otherwise of existing social benefits available to those who suffer from such disabilities.
§ Mr. WoodIn order to determine complicated questions like this, it is necessary to have facts rather than opinions. These are best obtained from the kind of research that is being carried out by bodies like the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit of the Medical Research Council. As the hon. Member knows, there has been a substantial real increase in the value of the benefits since this Government took office.