My Lords, I support these amendments and I will pick up the important points made by the noble Lord, Lord Howarth of Newport. I entirely support his emphasis on the need to ensure that those who suffered at second hand—whether it was the wives, daughters, or sometimes mothers of people in the industry who have been infected by the particles from washing clothes—should most certainly be covered if they have suffered a loss of health as a result.
The implication is that the insurance policies that were provided for the employees in case of negligence by the employer only relate to the employee in a very narrow sense. That needs to be explored in depth because there is a category of people who have undoubtedly suffered ill health and some who have died, and there may well be many more that come through from that avenue.
However, I return to the generality of these amendments. It has been noted in this debate that the scheme proposed by the Bill has its roots in the consultation announced by the previous Labour Government in February 2010, which is the date in these amendments. However, the scope of the assistance proposed in that consultation was, of course, significantly wider than what we have ended up with in the Bill.
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The Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau—ELIB—which was proposed by that consultation, would have compensated all industrial disease victims in situations where their employers’ liability insurer cannot be traced. The consultation ended in May 2010, but no announcement on any scheme came forward until this other date—25 July 2012. There is no magic in that date, but it has now become a fixed date that will have a tremendous effect on those who are cut off by the way it will be implemented.
Under the proposed scheme, victims will be protected if they were diagnosed after 25 July 2012. Those who were diagnosed between 9 February 2010 and that date will be, for completely arbitrary reasons, excluded from this scheme. The person who is diagnosed on
26 July 2012 will qualify, but if he is diagnosed on 24 July he will not. This is utterly unfair, which is why I urge noble Lords to support Amendments 4 and 8, which would bring this wronged group back into the scope of the scheme. That would be only logical. Not only is the insurance industry excused liability for all claims prior to July 2012, but is costs are also reduced, since in giving average compensation it will not need to enter into negotiations on a case-by-case basis. The insurance industry is, no doubt, the winner in this instance.
I contrast this package with that of industrial workers suffering from other forms of lung disease, who were compensated by the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979. Under that Act, workers who had suffered—if I remember correctly, going back to the 1950s—were taken on board. Why is there such a difference between the very generous treatment of sufferers in that instance, and this instance, where people are cut off in such an arbitrary manner?
We have all, no doubt, had messages from the families of those who have died from this horrendous disease. I will quote from two of them very briefly. Jean Kenyon says, simply, “My husband is a victim diagnosed in 2011. Why is he not included? It is a gross injustice”. John Gordon writes, “My late wife was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2012. Does this mean she suffered a horrendous death, which included a great deal of pain and mental anguish, which could only be recognised after 25th July 2012?”. In fact, it will not be recognised at all as things stand.
This is wrong, unfair, illogical and insensitive. I urge noble colleagues to support the amendments in the names of the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, and the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock.