The Department tried to negotiate a settlement through a schemed approach based on the Claims Handling Agreement (CHA). The Department agreed with the Claimants Group (CG) on taking mixed workers—those who had worked both underground and on the surface—into the scheme. The Department offered that any surface worker in a dusty job—with agreement on what these were—could go through the medical assessment for chronic bronchitis and temporary exacerbation of asthma which provides for low levels of compensation (on the lines of the tariffs now operating in the fast track scheme). And any surface worker with a pneumoconiosis reading (which the Department's claims handlers, Capita, took as a proxy for a marker of exposure to dust) could go through the full medical assessment and have access to higher levels of compensation for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
This proposal was submitted to the CG on 17 July 2000. The CG rejected the Department's position in a counter proposal on October 2000.
The CG was in favour of further joint studies and the House was informed in March 2001. As a result of these further studies and developments over the next four years, the Department's position is now that ‘it cannot scheme compensation’ to surface only workers for COPD.
Following receipt of the medical advice the Department sought to reach a negotiated settlement with claimants’ solicitors. Negotiations continued until February 2003 when the Department submitted its final position.
The Department received medical advice on 13 July 2000 and Ministers were informed of that advice on 16 July 2000.
The Department used the medical advice submitted in the original trial in deciding the liability owed to surface workers. The ‘respirable’ (as opposed to visible) dust levels recorded on the surface during the period of liability by the Institute of Occupational Medicine were such that there was very little likelihood of those even in the dustiest occupations on the surface developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), even with a working lifetime's exposure, although surface dust might cause COPD in a few super-susceptible individuals.
Treasury rules required that we had to put this minute to the House before Parliament rose for the summer recess in 2000 to allow us to open negotiations with the claimants’ solicitors.
Ministers were informed on 5 June 2000 that medical advice was being sought on compensation for miners for exposure to surface dust.