Compensation Bill [Lords]

My hon. Friend has raised that case with me before. We have tried to find out how many cases there are, and as far as we are aware, the vast majority have been stayed pending the decisions of this House and the other place on the Bill. I am grateful for that, as it means that everyone is in the pre-Barker position. I do not know exactly how many cases have gone through. However, we are allowing this tiny amount of retrospectivity to ensure that people do not end up unjustly penalised because their cases were unfortunate enough to fall within the two months between Barker and the time when the Bill will, I hope, receive Royal Assent. The Scottish Parliament recently passed a legislative consent motion, and amendment No. 9 therefore ensures that these provisions will apply across the United Kingdom. Colleagues in Northern Ireland have also signalled a wish for the provisions to apply there. To ensure that claimants receive the benefit of the provisions as soon as possible, amendment No. 7 provides for them to come into effect, together with the provisions in part 1 of the Bill, on Royal Assent. Amendment No. 10 makes the necessary consequential change to the title of the Bill. New clause 6 would give the Secretary of State the power by regulation to establish a mesothelioma compensation board and to define its functions and powers. As I said to the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes), it would be premature to create a statutory power of that nature. As I said in introducing new clause 13, the legislative action that we are taking to reverse the effects of the House of Lords decision in Barker is just a first step, and we fully agree that more can be done to improve the system for dealing with these claims and to ensure that claimants receive the compensation to which they are entitled as quickly as possible. With that in mind, officials in my Department and in the Department for Work and Pensions are working with stakeholders such as the ABI, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and the TUC to identify ways of speeding up claims. A number of suggestions have already been made about how that should operate, and we are discussing how to speed up the tracing of employers and insurers and how to make best use of specialism throughout the system by insurers, lawyers and the courts. We are also considering all the options and working with stakeholders to find a fair and workable solution. I believe that until that work is completed, it would be premature to take powers in legislation to adopt a particular approach that might not in practice turn out to be the most appropriate. New clause 7 creates a cause of action in cases where a chemical or substance has lodged in the body as a result of negligence or breach of statutory duty; whether or not any symptoms have been caused at the time that the action is commenced or brought to trial. My hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) raised the issue of pleural plaques on Second Reading, and the focus of this provision may be intended to create a cause of action in respect of pleural plaques. As I said both on Second Reading and in answer to parliamentary questions, pleural plaques are small localised areas of fibrosis found within the pleura of the lung caused by asbestos exposure, which do not impair lung function. They are an indicator that a person has been exposed to asbestos in the past and may have a slightly increased risk of going on to develop a more serious asbestos-related illness in the future. The question of whether pleural plaques should be a compensatable disease in respect of which a cause of action can be brought is currently the subject of an appeal to the House of Lords, so I do not believe that it is right for the Government to pre-empt the Law Lords’ consideration of those cases by legislating in that way at this time.