§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she is taking to encourage co-defendants to sign up to the Coal Health Handling Agreement; and if she will make a statement. [147199]
§ Nigel GriffithsThe small number of outstanding issues is principally a matter for resolution between the claimants' solicitors and the co-defendants.
The two main groups of co-defendants are small private mines, which produced coal during the nationalised period and who have concurrent liability with British Coal and the successor companies, such as UK Coal who have consecutive liability. Negotiations with both groups are advanced. At the end of January, representatives of the DTI, the Claimants Solicitor's Group (CG) and the small mines will take part in a three-way mediation exercise to attempt to resolve the outstanding issues between them.
The Department has been working with its claims handlers to develop a mechanism for paying interim awards to men who worked for small mines. The first payment went out in December 2003.
Discussions with the successor companies to sign up to the Claims Handling Agreement have also reached an advanced stage. UK Coal and the CG have recently
Table 1: Company compulsory liquidations in England and Wales by region 2003 1999 2000 2001 2002 Q1 Q2 Q3 Anglia Region 719 672 708 733 205 153 149 London 1,161 951 911 1,147 281 200 174 Midland Region 694 664 553 821 190 141 135 North East Region 564 546 504 480 140 136 113 North West Region 660 597 586 987 180 153 161 Public Interest Unit 37 94 150 266 115 347 40 South East Region 768 769 715 1,028 261 227 200 South West Region 606 632 548 768 213 113 104 England and Wales total 5,209 4,925 4,675 6,230 1,585 1,470 1,076 1092W produced new information regarding dust levels in successor mines. The parties' experts are currently reviewing these reports and further negotiations will take place shortly. If the remaining issues cannot be resolved through negotiation, mediation will be explored.
Table 2: Total company insolvencies in England and Wales—Industrial analysis 2003 Industry 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Q1 Q2 Agriculture and Horticulture 51 65 75 67 90 76 9 16 Manufacturing Food, drink and tobacco 93 89 67 104 71 61 22 14 Chemicals 31 57 35 61 37 46 10 4 Metals and engineering 591 594 698 683 704 739 245 189 Textiles and clothing 596 526 419 423 320 304 75 63 Timber and furniture 181 149 190 187 199 179 22 22 Paper, printing and publishing 364 426 387 386 484 545 99 98 Other 613 652 780 678 717 768 99 126 Construction and Transport Construction 1,419 1,325 1,529 1,474 1,509 1,840 460 447 Transport and Communication 540 504 443 526 481 652 190 178 Wholesaling Food, drink and tobacco 158 139 187 150 125 142 26 28 Motor vehicles 41 60 38 29 24 64 56 53 Other 340 364 394 391 363 512 147 377