The consultation paper considers the issues that arise in relation to changing the law of negligence and invites views on whether this would or would not be appropriate. It also seeks views on the merits of offering no fault financial support to people diagnosed with pleural plaques, and on two possible ways of doing this. Decisions on the appropriate way forward, including any issues in relation to funding, will be taken in the light of consultation.
The consultation paper discusses the possible approaches in relation to the funding of any no fault scheme which might be introduced under policy option 4 or 5. Decisions on the appropriate way forward will be taken in the light of consultation.
The initial impact assessment accompanying the consultation paper estimates the potential cost of option 4 to be between £52 million and £196 million (excluding set-up costs), and of option 5 to be between £780 million and £4.8 billion (excluding set-up costs).