HC Deb 16 March 1984 vol 56 cc294-5W
Mrs. Currie

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council's latest report on asbestos-related diseases without asbestosis is to published; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. Newton

The report, which amends the recommendations contained in an earlier report, is published today. The council is now recommending that workers who have been exposed to asbestos should be covered under the industrial injuries scheme for any measurable disablement caused by bilateral diffuse pleural thickening and for lung cancer where it is accompanied either by bilateral pleural thickening or by asbestosis. The Government have accepted these recommendations and regulations will be laid to bring them into operation by the Summer of 1985.