§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie (Mr. Worthington), of 1 November,Official Report, column 269, what assessment he has made of the reason for the named areas having high rates of asbestos-related mesothelioma; and for what reasons a breakdown by district is not available from 1991. [5066]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe high rates of mesothelioma in the districts mentioned in my reply of 1 November are related to the heavy industrial use of asbestos in the past in these areas, including shipbuilding, ship repairing and the manufacture of asbestos products.
The analysis was completed by the Health and Safety Executive only up until 1991 because at the time those were the most recent data available. The analysis will be updated next year to include the data from 1992 to 1995.