HC Deb 24 April 2001 vol 367 cc225-7W
Mr. Ennis

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many widows are awaiting their claims to be resolved for their late husbands' mining compensation scheme for(a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster. [158195]

Mr. Hain

To date, in the Barnsley area, as defined by the postcodes S70, S72 and S73, there are 644 claims associated with miners' widows. A bereavement award is made in cases where the death certificate cites one of the following eight qualifying descriptors: emphysema; chronic obstructive airways disease; chronic obstructive lung disease; chronic airways disease; chronic airflow limitation; chronic airflow obstruction; chronic bronchitis; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These qualifying conditions were agreed between the Department and the solicitors representing the claimants. In Barnsley, 188 widows have received bereavement awards, totalling £1.6 million.

In the Doncaster areas, as defined by the postcodes DN1, DN3–5 and DN9, there have been 269 claims in relation to miners' widows. Of these 184 have received bereavement awards totalling £1.5 million.

Mr. Ennis

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the medical assessment rate per month is for claims that are waiting to be completed for the miners' compensation scheme for(a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster. [158194]

Mr. Hain

Claimants are usually invited to attend an appointment to undergo the Medical Assessment Procedure, MAP, at a centre within a 25-mile radius of their residence. In the Barnsley area, as defined by the postcodes S70, S72, S73 and S75, there is a test centre serving residents and the surrounding 25-mile region. Claimants residing in Doncaster are served by centres in Huddersfield, Leeds, Mexborough, Pontefract and Sheffield. Each centre, when fully resourced with a respiratory specialist, lung function technician and administration staff, is capable of carrying out a minimum of 20 appointments per week, 40 in the case of Barnsley. The table shows the number of MAPs undertaken and appointments booked to date at each centre:

Test centre MAPs undertaken Appointments booked
Barnsley 523 163
Leeds 284 3
Huddersfield 37 6
Mexborough 408 181
Sheffield 443 115
Pontefract 586 214

The number of MAPs undertaken per week depends largely on the availability of respiratory specialists. Over the next three months, two new respiratory specialists working a minimum of 10 sessions per week each are scheduled to start work in Yorkshire and north-east England. Three more specialists working between six and 10 sessions per week each are also scheduled to start over this period.

Mr. Denis Murphy

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much compensation has been paid to miners, ex-miners and miners' families in respect of chronic bronchitis and emphysema in the Wansbeck constituency. [158460]

Mr. Hain

To date, IRISC, the Department's claims handlers, have registered 2,315 claimants in the Wansbeck constituency, as defined by the postcodes NE22 and NE61–64. There have been 524 individual payments, including interims and full and final settlements, totalling £2.1 million.