§ Mr. Concannonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people 748W in the area covered by the Nottinghamshire coalfields suffer from pneumoconiosis to the degree of (a) 0 to 10 per cent., (b) 10 to 20 per cent., (c) 20 to 50 per cent., (d) 50 to 90 per cent. and (e) 100 per cent.
§ Mr. PrenticeI regret that the information is not available in the specific form requested. However, on 30 September 1977, the latest date for which information is held, 27,120 people in Great Britain were in receipt of industrial disablement pension on account of pneumoconiosis due to coalmining. The percentage assessments current at that date were as follows:
10 per cent. … … 12,380 20–54 per cent. … … 12,920 55–94 per cent. … … 1,220 95–100 per cent. … … 600 Of the 27,120 beneficiaries, 1,570 were living in the Department's administrative region of East Midlands and East Anglia, which has within its boundaries coalfields other than those in Nottinghamshire.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will consider paying part of the pension paid to a certified pneumoconiotic to his widow when he dies, when pneumoconiosis has been a contributing factor to his death; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PrenticeA preferential widows' benefit is payable under the industrial injuries provisions where the husband dies as a result of an industrial accident or a prescribed occupational disease, including pneumoconiosis.
Disablement benefit is a personal benefit payable during a person's lifetime to compensate for the extent of disablement which results from a loss of faculty caused by an industrial accident or prescribed disease.
My right hon. Friend and I have no plans for introducing a change on the lines of that suggested by the hon. Member, but the point will be noted in connection with the general review of the industrial injuries scheme that is being undertaken.