§ Patrick MercerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent research her Department has in place into energy production from agricultural products. [20628]
§ Mr. WilsonUnder the Department's Sustainable Energy Programme, we have 24 projects in place into energy production from agricultural products. The total value of these projects is £4.7 million of which the Department is contributing £2.6 million. A list of the projects follows.
Constituency and headline statistics can now be found on the Department's website at www.dti.gov.uk/coalhealth.
§ Mr. Denis MurphyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many compensation claims have been made to date in respect of chronic bronchitis and emphysema in(a) the Wansbeck constituency, (b) Northumberland and (c) the UK. [19936]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Department has registered claims in respect of compensation for respiratory disease in the above regions as follows:
665W
Region Number of claims registered (a) Wansbeck constituency 2,564 (b) Northumberland1 4,243 (c) UK 171,087 1 Northumberland as defined by the areas denoted by the following postcodes: NE 15, 18–20, 23–26, 41–49, 61–71 and TD 12, 15 Constituency and headline statistics can now be found on the Department's website at www.dti.gov.uk/ coalhealth.
§ Mr. Denis MurphyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the average length of time taken between receipt of a claim under the chronic bronchitis and emphysema compensation scheme and an offer being made to the claimant in(a) the Wansbeck constituency, (b) Northumberland and (c) the UK. [19938]
§ Mr. WilsonClaims are not all processed at the same rate. Claims are being handled, as set out in the handling agreement, agreed with the claimants' solicitors, whereby the most elderly and ill claimants are prioritised. Widows are also being dealt with first, wherever possible and are given priority over estates' claims. The time taken to settle a claim will therefore depend on the number of priority points allocated to it. The problems there have been getting the scheme up and running also affected the time taken to deal with claims.
The Department is unable to provide the average length of time between receipt of a claim for compensation for respiratory disease and an offer being made to the claimant. There is, however, no discrimination on where the claimant lives.
It should also be noted that across the 171,000 claims registered to date, each claim is different and the time taken to settle claims accurately and fairly will vary widely.