§ Mr. Alasdair MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many ex-miners from(a) Scotland and (b) the UK claiming compensation for chronic bronchitis and emphysema have died before their claims were fully processed. [119558]
§ Mrs. LiddellAs at 10 April IRISC, the Department's claims handler, had been informed of 4,203 claims where the date of death recorded occurred since the date of claim. Of these 341 are in Scotland.
In all these cases the claims will be continued by the claimant's widow or dependants. In addition, where the claimant's death certificate shows that one of the respiratory diseases for which British Coal were found liable either caused or materially contributed to the death, the Department will also make a bereavement award to the claimant's widow.
§ Mr. Alasdair MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of the claims received from ex-miners in(a) Scotland and (b) the UK for compensation for chronic bronchitis and emphysema have been fully processed. [119559]
§ Mrs. LiddellAs at 9 April, the Department had made a total of 1,949 full and final payments totalling some £5.4 million, of which 345 totalling £900,000 have been to Scottish ex-miners. In addition, the Department has made a further 18,000 interim and bereavement award payments totalling £50.6 million, of which 1,308 totalling £3.1 million have been to Scottish ex-miners and their families.