HC Deb 30 January 2001 vol 362 cc118-21W
Mr. Todd

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the locations and(a) dates and (b) proposed dates of opening are of centres for medical assessment of claims for (i) vibration white finger and (ii) respiratory disease. [147802]

Mr. Hain

The Department currently has 14 vibration white finger assessment centres in operation, with a further centre to open in March, broken down as follows:

Vibration white finger assessment centers
Centre Date opened
Barnsley1 November 1999
Birmingham February 2000
Cardiff2 September 2000
Derby September 2000
Doncaster To open in March 2001
Edinburgh October 19993
Glasgow September 1999
Manchester January 2000
Mansfield 12 September 1999
Mansfield 2 July 2000
Newcastle1 August 1999
Nottingham 1 January 2000
Nottingham 21 May 2000
Sheffield August 1999
Stoke March 20011
Swansea March 2000
Wakefield December 1999
1 Three sets of equipment
2 Two sets of equipment
3 Mothballed in September 2000

The centres in Edinburgh and Stoke have been mothballed and will re-open when there is a sufficient pool of claimants ready for their medical assessment.

With regard to respiratory disease Medical Assessment Process centres, the Department currently has 27 centres in operation, with a further two centres to open later this year, broken down as follows.

Respiratory disease medical assessment process centers
Centre Date opened
Ammanford To open in March 2001
Ayr April 2000
Barnsley 1 March 2000
Barnsley 2 January 2001
Bristol May 20001
Cannock April 2000
Chesterfield February 2000
Coventry January 2000
Deal May 2000
Durham March 2000
Edinburgh March 2000
Glasgow March 2000
Huddersfield February 2000
Leeds May 2000
Lochore January 2000
Manchester February 2000
Mansfield February 2000
Mexborough February 2000
Mountain Ash 1 January 2000
Mountain Ash 2 January 2000
Newcastle January 2000
Newport January 2000
Nottingham January 2000
Pontefract February 2000
Sheffield January 2000
Sterling December 2000
Stoke April 2000
Swansea January 2000
Wigan June 2000
Wrexham March 2000
Ystrad Mynach To open in February 2001
1 Mothballed in June 2000, re-opened in January 2001

Respiratory Disease
Interim payments Expedited payments Total amount paid
Postal region Total claims Number of claims £ Number of claims £ £
Wales
South Wales 26,579 5,819 20,237,171.00 753 3,747,038.00 23,984,209.00
Other 1,126 273 931,169.00 4 23,014.00 954,183.00
Scotland
Fife 2,219 555 1,489,648.00 140 438,057.00 1,927,705.00
Other 8,288 1,565 4,562,413.00 364 1,247,977.00 5,810,390,00
England
Nottinghamshire 15,651 2,762 9,187,601.00 632 2,927,839.00 12,115,440.00
Yorkshire 35,212 6,185 21,101,636.00 1,986 9,168,084.00 30,269,720.00
North East 18,924 3,352 12,700,838.00 526 2,705,057.00 15,405,895.00
North West 7,624 1,275 4,290,278.00 278 1,474,621.00 5,764,899.00
Midlands 13,689 2,893 9,167,806.00 505 2,545,070.00 11,712,876.00
South 3,440 554 1,833,875.00 87 465,380.00 2,299,255.00
Other 777 21 69,508.00 3 11,194.00 80,702.00
Total 133,529 25,254 85,571,943.00 5,278 24,753,331.00 110,325,274.00

Vibration White Finger
Interim payments Final payments Total amount paid
Postal region Total claims Number of claims £ Number of claims £ £
Wales
South Wales 15,389 2,377 11,141,344.00 2,603 16,471,143.00 27,612,487.00
Other 411 66 261,730.00 35 194,511.00 456,241.00
Scotland
Fife 1,485 327 1,353,546.00 187 1,103,196.00 2,456,742.00
Other 6,124 1,393 5,712,138.00 1,605 7,135,020.00 12,847,158.00
England
Nottinghamshire 18,798 3,473 16,272,636.00 2,040 13,935,572.00 30,208,208.00
Yorkshire 37,857 7,322 38,156,122.00 3,965 28,543,021.00 66,699,143.00
North East 19,279 5,090 28,123,557.00 3,433 26,534,030.00 54,657,586.00

The centre in Bristol was mothballed and the equipment was transferred to Mountain Ash to cover a shortfall in South Wales. The Bristol centre reopened when a sufficient pool of claimants were ready for their medical assessment.

The MAP centres are also equipped to carry out spirometry assessment.

Mr. Todd

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims his Department has received in respect of respiratory disease; and in respect of how many claims spirometry has been completed. [147803]

Mr. Hain

As at 14 January the Department's claim handling agents, IRISC, had registered 130,869 claims in respect of respiratory disease. As at the same date 65,556 of the 86,458 live claimants had undergone spirometry testing, with a further 14,055 being invited to make appointments. Together these total some 92 per cent. of live claimants.

Mr. Todd

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list by region of residence the numbers of(a) claims received in respect of respiratory disease, (b) interim and expedited awards in respect of respiratory disease by (i) number and (ii) value, (c) claims in respect of vibration white finger and (d) interim and general damage awards in respect of vibration white finger by (i) number and (ii) value. [147805]

Mr. Hain

The information is as follow:

Vibration White Finger
Interim payments Final payments Total amount paid
Postal region Total claims Number of claims £ Number of claims £ £
North West 3,762 867 3,505,691.00 433 2,523,166.00 6,028,857.00
Midlands 10,956 1,861 8,491,824.00 821 4,675,198.00 13,167,023.00
South 1,785 297 1,509,194.00 146 765,367.00 2,247,562.00
Other 268 10 46,979.00 5 40,553.00 87,532.00
Total 116,114 23,083 114,574,762.00 15,086 101,920,778.00 216,495,540.00

Total payment made relating to both compensation for respiratory and vibration White Finger
Postal region £million
Wales
South Wales 51.6
Other 1.4
Scotland
Fife 4.4
Other 18.7
England
Nottinghamshire 42.3
Yorkshire 97
North East 70.1
North West 11.8
Midlands 24.9
South 4.6
Other 0.2
Total 327

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