Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the position of mesothelioma claimants whose claims have been lodged with the T&N Asbestos Trusts; whether T&N claimants are receiving their legal entitlement; why T&N claimants are excluded from the benefits of the Mesothelioma Act 2014; and why those claimants are treated differently from any other claimant affected by mesothelioma.
Answered by Lord Freud
A person with diffuse mesothelioma, or their dependents, may be eligible to apply for the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme (DMPS) if no one has received damages or a specified payment in respect of the disease or is eligible to receive a specified payment from another source.
Eligibility for, or receipt of, such payments disqualifies an applicant from receiving a DMPS payment. This prevents a person receiving more than one payment for the same condition and ensures that all claimants are treated fairly and with equity.
These specified payments include payments under the Turner and Newall Trusts.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many claims for compensation have so far been generated under the terms of the Mesothelioma Act 2014; how that number compares with predicted numbers of claims; what, if any, underspend against budget has resulted; and whether they intend to allocate any underspend for research into finding cures for mesothelioma.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Scheme began taking applications in April 2014, and began making payments on 1 July 2014. As of 30 September 2014 the Scheme had received 173 applications. During the first year of operation we had forecasted around 900 applications to the Scheme.
The DMPS is funded by a levy on the insurance industry. The levy is intended to cover the cost of the Scheme in any one year, and we are not expecting to generate any under spend. Any under spend would be returned to HM Treasury.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what trends they have identified in the prevalence of mesothelioma in the United Kingdom over the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Freud
Statistics on the prevalence of mesothelioma in the United Kingdom – that is, the number of people that had the disease at a particular time or in a particular period – are not available. However, mesothelioma prevalence is known to be approximately equivalent to annual mesothelioma mortality.
The annual total numbers of mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain over the period 2003-2012 (the latest 10 years for which data are available) are shown in the table below.
Year | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
Total | 1887 | 1978 | 2049 | 2060 | 2176 | 2265 | 2336 | 2360 | 2291 | 2535 |
Source: Health and Safety Executive mesothelioma register.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their current estimate of the total number of fatalities from mesothelioma expected in the next 30 years.
Answered by Lord Freud
Based on the latest data available the Health and Safety Executive estimate that there will be around 58,000 mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain over the 30-year period 2013-2042.
The statistical model used suggests an uncertainty range of 53,000 to 64,000 deaths on that estimate. However, the true uncertainty range may be wider as longer-range predictions are reliant on assumptions about asbestos exposures that cannot currently be fully validated.
The annual number of mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain is projected to peak towards the end of this current decade.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implementation of the Personal Independence Payment; and whether they have any plans to re-examine the tender documents supplied by Atos in its bid for the contracts.
Answered by Lord Freud
As with all programmes of reform, we are continually monitoring and evaluating the implementation of personal independence payment. We have no plans to review the tender documents supplied by either of our assessment providers except in the normal course of business for contract reviews.