§ Lord Hardy of Wathasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the arrangements for payment to those who suffer from bronchitis and emphysema as a result of employment underground, and the operation of the monitoring group, have been successful. [HL1219]
§ The Minister for Science, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)The arrangements to pay compensation are now getting fully under way. The handling arrangement, agreed last September with solicitors acting for the claimants, sets out procedures aimed to settle all 100,000 plus respiratory disease claims within two to three years.
Based on the initial spirometry test, we have offered 6,500 expedited payments, of which 1,500 have been accepted and 1,500 rejected. We are awaiting responses from solicitors on the remainder. In the meantime interim payments are being made wherever possible. To date, we have paid over £50 million in damages to ex-miners and their families.
For the full medical assessment process 17 centres have been established and it is aimed to have set up a further eight by the end of March. The first full assessments are now being completed and we aim to have in place the capacity to complete 2,500 assessments per month by the end of March. The extent to which these can run at capacity will depend on the speed with which solicitors send in completed claims questionnaires and mandates and the speed with which records can be collected from GPs and hospitals.
The Government remain determined to pay money to deserving miners and their families as quickly as possible, but we need the co-operation of all involved parties to achieve that aim.
The monitoring group has been very helpful. There have been three very useful meetings with it and a fourth is scheduled for the end of March. In the meantime, group members have been holding discussions with the Government's agents and 150WA contractors as well as firms of solicitors in an attempt to identify problems with the system and ways in which the process can be speeded up.
§ Lord Hardy of Wathasked Her Majesty's Government:
What arrangements have been made and what financial support has been provided or is planned in regard to administrative and legal costs relating to the claims for compensation of former mineworkers suffering from bronchitis or emphysema or their dependants; and whether it is expected that their legal advisers will take a significant share of any payments awarded under this scheme.[HL1220]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleThe Government, in agreement with solicitors representing the claimants, are paying fixed costs, as set out in the claims handling agreement, plus reasonable disbursements, to all solicitors in respect of successful claimants. The Government have also agreed to pay certain costs relating to client care for all claims, including those that are unsuccessful. In addition, the Government will be paying for the costs of lung tests, medical consultations and the collection of records for every claimant who chooses to have his claim assessed, regardless of the outcome.
Solicitors are not prohibted from charging a success fee. It is entirely a matter for the individual solicitors whether they choose to charge on this basis and we understand that some firms are doing so, while others have chosen not to. However, we would hope that they would take account of the Govenment's agreement to meet certain costs for unsuccessful claims. We have always made it clear that our primary concern is to see that miners are properly compensated for the injuries that they have suffered and we would hope that solicitors who represent them would share the same aim.