Vibration White Finger (Hansard, 16 November 1998)

§ Mr. Battle

On Vibration White Finger (VWF) discussions were held with the claimants' solicitors on 2 November where good progress was made towards reaching a final agreement on a scheme for compensating miners with VWF. Those present agreed a single medical assessment process for working out the degree of injury, and agreed that a pilot of these tests can begin on 1 December at our testing centre in Sheffield. We are working hard to establish whether full and final offers can be made to miners on the basis of existing medical reports 423W being sufficient evidence. The next meeting is scheduled for 30 November following a further exchange of information and proposals. I have given officials and advisers attending that meeting a mandate to progress negotiations to a rapid conclusion and, assuming the plaintiffs' solicitors act reasonably, I believe an agreement can now be reached with no further need to visit the courts. To reduce delays further, sets of medical assessment equipment have already been purchased and work has been done to identify organisations able to deliver these assessments.

With regard to chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The Plaintiffs Solicitors Group accepted my Department's suggestion to adjourn a High Court hearing scheduled for 6 November and, instead, held a meeting with officials where good progress was made to resolve the outstanding issues. It was agreed that the medical advisers from both sides should get together to discuss the outstanding medical issues. This meeting took place on 11 November. My understanding is that this discussion went well and should allow us and the plaintiffs' solicitors to get on with agreeing the arrangements for handling the many thousands of claims from miners or their widows. I am determined that a final agreement is reached as soon as possible. There will need to be a tendering process for the required medical services which will inevitably take time and we are considering ways to speed up that process. In the meantime we are looking at ways in which we can extend the offer of interim payments to other categories of claimants.