asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in view of the variation from location to location of the proportion of doctors serving on pneumoconiosis medical panels who possess either the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians or other relevant higher medical qualifications, if he will take steps to ensure that such panels always contain members with the relevant specialist qualifications, particularly in respiratory and cardio-respiratory diseases and able to perform the specialist diagnostic and assessary work required of them.

No. I am satisfied that each medical panel already contains a sufficient number of experienced and well qualified doctors capable of performing the specialist diagnostic and assessment work required.