Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to ensure that incidences of asbestos-related disease are accurately and consistently recorded to allow analysis of the scale of asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma nationally.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) produces and publishes statistics for asbestosis, mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer and non-malignant pleural disease in Great Britain.

The statistics are taken from multiple sources including THOR (The Health and Occupation Reporting Network), Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) and death certificates.

There is consistency in how data on asbestos-related disease is collected and analysed to tell us about the changing nature of risk to different populations. However, because of factors such as long latency of asbestos related diseases, the data tells us nothing about the effect of recent exposure or those that could still be occurring today.

HSE continues to monitor and assess evidence in this area.