§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average time scale is between an application by a miner for compensation and the awarding of compensation; and if she will make a statement. [24945]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Handling Agreement for respiratory disease was formally signed on 24 September 1999 and claims could not be processed before this date. The average time scale from this date, or date of claim if after 24 September 1999, to settlement by expedited payment, following spirometry testing, is seven months. The average time scale, as set out above, for settlement via the full Medical Assessment Process is 1 year 11 months.
This does not take into consideration interim payments that the Department has been making since May 1998. These payments are made as soon as IRISC, the Department's claims handlers, are in receipt of the relevant documentation.
Following the resolution of the main outstanding issues for respiratory disease, the number of full and final offers made has risen sharply. The Department continues to identify parts of the process which can be improved and it is envisaged that the volumes of offers should increase as the Department and its contractors continue to ramp up operations.
869WThe Handling Agreement in respect of Vibration White Finger, VWF, was formally signed on 22 January 1998 and claims could not have been processed before this date. The average time scale from this date, or date of claim if after 22 January 1998, to settlement is 1 year 4 months. This also does not include interim payments made.
It is envisaged that all existing claimants will be medically assessed by spring 2002.
Taken together with compensation for respiratory disease, the Department made 7,000 offers, worth £47.7 million in November alone.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many miners have applied for compensation; how many have been given compensation; how much has been given in compensation to date; and if she will make a statement. [24944]
§ Mr. WilsonIn respect of respiratory disease, IRISC, the Department's claims handlers, have registered 173,600 claims, to date. 58,273 individual payments have been made totalling £238.8 million.
With regards to Vibration White Finger, VWF, 133,662 claims have been initiated. 71,954 individual payments have been made amounting to £438.5 million.
Following resolution of the main outstanding issues, IRISC are now making significant numbers of final offers. In November alone, for both respiratory disease and VWF, 7,000 offers were made worth £47.7 million.
§ Mr. ToddTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in assigning a job code to those working as instructors and training officers in relation to mineworkers' compensation claims for respiratory disease. [24737]
§ Mr. WilsonThe issue of the appropriate job dust factor for training officers was recently referred to the Dust Reference Panel (DRP), an expert body that is jointly instructed by the claimants' solicitors' co-ordinating group (CG) and the Department. The DRP's report concludes that training officers would spend the majority of their time in a surface non-dusty environment, with only occasional visits underground, and as such should be classified as 'surface non-dusty'. The Department is in discussion with the CG about the DRP's conclusions. If both parties accept the DRP's report, training officers will not be eligible for compensation under the scheme. The category of mining instructor has not yet been referred to the DRP, and no request has been received from the CG for such a referral. The Department proposes to put the category to the DRP as soon as possible, subject to the CG's agreement.