HC Deb 11 January 2000 vol 342 cc126-7W
Ms Atherton

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on health problems suffered by former workers at the Nancekuke base in Cornwall. [103940]

Mr. Kilfoyle

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key) on 11 November 1999,Official Report, columns 707–08W, concerning the survey conducted by the Registrar General which showed that, up to 1969, the mortality of persons who had been employed at Nancekuke was rather less than the average for England and Wales as a whole. This report was published in full in the answer given to the former hon. Member for North Cornwall (Mr. Pardoe) on 2 November 1970, Official Report, columns 294–95W. I also refer my hon. Friend to my previous answer concerning the review of sickness and absenteeism among persons employed at Nancekuke which did not yield any valid conclusions.

Ms Atherton

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Government's decision to allow early release of a document concerning health risks to workers at the Nancekuke base in Cornwall during the 1950s and 1960s. [103939]

Mr. Kilfoyle

The document to which my hon. Friend refers was a report of sickness and absenteeism among persons employed at Nancekuke from 1952 to 1969. The review was conducted by the Registrar General and mentioned briefly in an answer to a question from the former hon. Member for North Cornwall (Mr. Pardoe) on 2 November 1970,Official Report, columns 294–95W. The study, which was not classified, was among a number of papers at the Public Record Office which were authorised for early release by the Office for National Statistics in response to a request from a reporter.

Ms Atherton

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from former workers at the Nancekuke base in Cornwall regarding health risks caused by their contact with poisonous substances during the 1950s and 1960s. [103938]

Mr. Kilfoyle

One claim for compensation has been received by my Department from a former worker at Nancekuke who was accidentally exposed to Sarin GB. I am not aware of any other representations to my Department. I am, however, aware of the two other claims made through the then Department of Health and Social Security in the early 1970s.

Ms Atherton

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the report released by the Office for National Statistics concerning health risks to workers at the Nancekuke base in Cornwall during the 1950s and 1960s. [103941]

Mr. Kilfoyle

The report referred to was based on a review of sickness and absenteeism among persons employed at Nancekuke from 1952 to 1969. While the results could be taken to imply greater absence among industrial staff for some illnesses than might have been expected from the national figures available, the data were considered insufficiently robust to be used as firm evidence of increased ill-health among staff and the results were not published formally. Recent re-examination of the results supports the original conclusions concerning the inadequacy of the data.