§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to locate a respiratory specialist in Merseyside to assist with medical assessments of former miners seeking compensation. [38347]
§ Mr. Wilson[holding answer 4 March 2002]: There are now almost 1,560 claims in respect of living miners registered in Merseyside. Centres have been positioned geographically in areas of high concentration of claimants and where respiratory specialists are available to staff the centres. Claimants are usually invited to attend a test centre within a 25-mile radius from their residence. The centres Merseyside claimants will be directed to are Wrexham, Wigan and Manchester. These are considered to be adequately close to service the needs of Merseyside claimants. However, claimants are given the option to attend a different centre if a more suitable time is available. For those claimants who are not able to travel to a centre, and have a letter from their doctor, Healthcall, the company contracted to undertake the Medical Assessment Process, MAP, can carry out home visits. Where there are pockets of claimants outside the 25 mile radius of a test centre, but insufficient numbers to set up a permanent centre, one of the mobile testing units will be used to assess these claimants.
351W
§ Mr. HepburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in processing miners' compensation claims in(a) the UK, (b) the north-east, (c) south Tyneside and (d) the Jarrow constituency. [39617]
§ Mr. WilsonIRISC, the Department's claims handlers, have made the following interim and full and final settlements to date:
Region Number of interim payments Number of full and final payments Damages paid (£ million) Respiratory disease (a) UK 31,163 12,920 172.6 (b) North-east 5,929 1,627 36.6 (c) South Tyneside 499 184 2.8 (d) Jarrow 121 55 0.7 Vibration White Finger (a) UK 41,883 22,577 396.2 (b) North-east 9,171 5,167 97.4 (c) South Tyneside 982 305 9.2 (d) Jarrow 249 102 2.5 There has been some good progress lately, particularly in relation to respiratory disease. In January alone, over 2,800 full and final offers, excluding expedited offers, were made worth £21.1 million in relation to respiratory disease. With regards to Vibration White Finger, 3,200 offers have been made in January, worth £29.5 million.
§ Mr. HepburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many outstanding claims for miners' compensation there are in(a) the UK, (b) the north-east,(c) south Tyneside and (d) the Jarrow constituency. [39616]
§ Mr. WilsonIRISC, the Department's claims handlers have registered the following number of claims and made the following settlements:
Region Number of claims Number of full and final payments Number of denied/withdrawn claims Number of outstanding claims Respiratory disease (a) UK 131,731 12,920 3,584 115,227 (b) North-east 26,635 1,627 572 24,436 (c) South Tyneside 2,368 184 40 2,144 (d) Jarrow 607 55 9 543 Vibration White Finger (a) UK 111,644 22,577 4,510 84,557 (b) North-east 20,677 5,167 931 14,579 (c) South Tyneside 1,916 305 67 1,544 (d) Jarrow 519 102 17 400