§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications the Festival Park Benefits Agency office, Stoke on Trent has received in respect of chronic bronchitis and emphysema; and of those, how many have(a) been accepted on first application, (b) been refused, (c) gone to appeal and (d) been accepted following an appeal.
§ Mr. HagueThe administration of industrial injuries disablement benefit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Ms Joan Walley, dated 21 July 1994:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about how many applications for chronic bronchitis and emphysema the Festival Park Benefits Agency Office, Stoke on Trent has received and of those how many have (a) been accepted on first application, (b) been refused, (c) gone to appeal and (d) been accepted following appeal.Firstly I should like to explain that all questions arising on claims for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) are decided by independent adjudicating authorities. Lay questions are decided by an Adjudication Officer (AO) and, on appeal, by a Social Security Appeal Tribunal (SSAT). Generally speaking, medical questions are decided first by an Adjudicating Medical Authority (AMA) and, on appeal, by a Medical Appeal Tribunal (MAT). In prescribed disease claims, however, the first of the medical questions, ie. the diagnosis question, my be disallowed by an AO based on medical evidence; in that event, the customer can appeal, first to an AMA and then to a MAT.The information you ask for is not available in the format requested. This is because Festival Park Benefits Agency Office is a medical boarding centre for respiratory diseases MBC(RD) and can only provide figures relating to medical questions. The attached table gives statistics which relate to the Benefits Agency's North Staffordshire District which covers Stoke on Trent North, Stoke on Trent South and Newcastle Staffordshire.The figures have been obtained from a 100 per cent. count.I hope you find this reply helpful.
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Chronic bronchitis and emphysema—North Staffordshire District Claims information to 17 July 1994 Numbers Claims received 1,736 Disallowed on prescription1 113 Disallowed on medical grounds2 1,241 Assessed at 14 per cent. or over3 196 Number of appeals on prescription 9 Succesful 0 Unsuccessful 0 Number of appeals to Medical Appeal Tribunals 30 Successful 0 Unsuccesful 0 Number, of appeals to Special Medical Boards 174 Successful 11 Unsuccessful 117 1 Claims disallowed on precription are those where the customer has working underground in a coal mine for a period of at least 20 years.
2 Claims disallowed on medical advice include customers: with insufficient lung function loss;
where category 1 pneumoconiosis has not been diagnosed and; Where chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema has not been diagnosed.
3 Claims assessed at 14 per cent. or more will result in an award of benefit.
Note: Not all claims/appeals received will have been decided by 17 July 1994.
§ 411. Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy that all X-rays used in evidence in respect of claims from miners for chronic bronchitis and emphysema to be soft and not hard exposure X-rays; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HagueThe Industrial Injuries Advisory Council recommended the use of the International Labour Organisation classification for chest radiography in deciding claims for chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The ILO classification is used extensively throughout the world and is generally accepted as an appropriate measure of coal dust retention.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will reconsider the criteria for eligibility to industrial injuries disablement benefit arising from chronic bronchitis and emphysema; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HagueThe Government are advised on the prescription of diseases under the industrial injuries scheme by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council, an independent body of experts. We accepted and implemented in full the council's recommendations on the terms of prescription of chronic bronchitis and emphysema in coal miners as a disease for which industrial injuries disablement benefit can be paid.
The council plans to review the situation after a suitable period of operation.