Mr.
Harper: There is just one point that the Minister has not
touched on. She has clarified the issue in relation to where the
disease was contracted, but can she also clarify whether that also
extends to non-British
citizens?
Mrs.
McGuire: Yes. I thought I had been clear about that. It is
a matter of where the condition has been contracted, and whether a
person contracted it in the UK. It is not about those who would be
covered by other employer or employment
schemes.
John
Battle: Have I got this clear? This is not a case of what
we sometimes abusively refer to as medical tourism, and if someone has
the condition somewhere else and comes to Britain, I imagine they will
not get compensation. I understand that if a person is contracted to a
company in Britain and works in a factory or engineering shop or has,
as has been the case in some instances, been contracted to work at
traffic lights where lorries draw up and asbestos comes from the wheels
and the braking systems, they can claim against the company even if
they are a foreign national. Similarly, in relation to someone who
works at traffic lights, they can go to the Highways Agency and say,
“You caused it.” I assume that I am right in saying that
if the cause is in Britain, they can claim under the
scheme.
Mrs.
McGuire: My right hon. Friend is exactly right.
I think the
hon. Member for Forest of Dean asked about the incidence of
mesothelioma in Great Britain and why it is higher than in other
European countries. There is an international disparity in incidences
of mesothelioma and we recognise that. The UK rate is among the highest
in the world, which reflects the pattern of asbestos usage in the UK
and the substantial imports of asbestos in the past. That is why we now
have stringent controls on the use of asbestos. I hope that answers the
hon. Gentleman’s question.
My right hon.
Friend the Member for Leeds, West asked whether the polluter should pay
and gave a graphic description of incidences in his constituency. Yes,
we expect to recover the full cost of the scheme from the compensation
recovery from insurance and we continue to work with insurance
companies to improve insurance tracing to ensure that we can get more
money to victims. In response to the hon. Member for Forest of Dean,
yes, we will top up payments if someone is found to be subsequently
entitled to a higher payment under the 1979 Act.
I hope that I
have covered most if not all the points made by hon. Members. If I have
not, I will certainly write to hon. Friends and hon. Members. Although
we have had a robust discussion about the regulations, all hon. Members
recognise that this is a new way of dealing with compensation claims,
as my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover mentioned. It is about
recognising that people in these situations may not have a long life
and that we want to get payments to them as quickly as possible. We can
sort out the details afterwards. I know that all hon. Members recognise
not only that it is groundbreaking in that sense, but that it is the
right thing to do. The only regret I can express—and I assume
that we can all express this—is that we have had to wait so long
for the legislation to come into
force. Question
put and agreed
to. Resolved,
That the
Committee has considered the draft Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments
(Conditions and Amounts) Regulations
2008. Committee
rose at twenty minutes to Six
o’clock.
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