asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will publish the names of the working group he has set up to investigate the issue of compensation for slate workers and their families suffering from pneumoconiosis;(2) whether the working group he has set up to investigate the issue of compensation for slate workers and their families suffering from pneumoconiosis is to hold public hearings and receive oral and written evidence.

The working group which I am setting up is an interdepartmental working group of officials. Its task will be to review all the available evidence relating to the question of compensation for workers suffering from pneumoconiosis and similar respirable dust diseases, particularly those who no longer have an employer against whom they can bring an action for damages; to obtain such further information and evidence as is necessary; and to report to Ministers with its recommendations. It will be primarily for the working group to consider what further evidence is needed and how it should be obtained.