Third Delegated Legislation Committee
19 October 2026
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Third Delegated Legislation Committee House of Commons
Follow its sittings00:02 - 00:15
Speaker 3
Order, order. The draft Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026. Is it the wish of the committee that the instruments be debated together?
00:15 - 00:16
Aye.
00:16 - 00:36
Speaker 2
No objections. In that case, I will call the minister to move the first motion and speak to both instruments. And at the end of the debate, I will put the question that the first motion be passed and then ask the minister to move the second motion formally. I call the minister to move the first motion. Stephen Morgan.
00:36 - 06:55
Speaker 1
Thank you very much indeed. I'm delighted to be serving under your chairmanship this evening, I think for the first time in all these years, but I'm very pleased that's happened. Let me welcome all members to the committee and also congratulate the honourable member for the Isle of Wight East on taking up his new role and welcome him to the committee. And Dr. Huq, I beg to move that the draft Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 and also the draft Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026, which were laid before the House on the 1st of September, that they both be approved. These schemes provide very important support to people who've developed some dust-related diseases, often caused by occupational exposure to asbestos and to other harmful dusts.
And this includes diseases such as the two named in the instruments, pneumoconiosis and mesothelioma. They have a devastating effect on individuals and on their families. And I really welcome the opportunity to debate these schemes this evening and the changes that we're making to ensure that they continue to provide effective support. Let me just begin with a brief overview of the two no-fault compensation schemes and what these regulations seek to change. So, the first of them, on pneumoconiosis, which I shall refer to as the 1979 Act scheme, provides a single lump sum compensation payment to eligible people who suffer from one of the diseases covered by the scheme.
This includes, as well as pneumoconiosis, diffuse mesothelioma and three other dust-related respiratory diseases. The scheme was designed to compensate people who are unable to claim damages from former employers because they'd gone out of business and who had not brought any civil action against another party for damages. To be entitled to a lump sum award, claimants must have an industrial injuries disablement benefit award for a disease covered by the 1979 Act scheme, or would have had an award but for their percentage disablement. The Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payment Scheme, the 2008 Act scheme, as I shall refer to it, was introduced to provide compensation to people who contracted diffuse mesothelioma but who were unable to claim compensation through the 1979 Act scheme. For example, they could have been self-employed or their exposure to asbestos was not due to their work.
The 2008 Act scheme provides support to people with diffuse mesothelioma quickly at the time when they most need help.
Both of the schemes aim to provide compensation to sufferers within their lifetime, but each scheme also allows for claims by dependents if the person suffering from the disease sadly dies before they're able to make a claim, and that is not an unusual state of affairs. And this is in recognition of the suffering that these diseases can impose on whole families. The regulations before the House today make very important changes to both of the schemes, and the most important relates to awards for dependents and the treatment of claims where a claimant dies before payment can be made. The changes deliver what I hope the House will agree is a fairer approach to compensation and provide better support to bereaved families. Under the current arrangements, awards payable to dependents are generally lower than those payable to sufferers.
These regulations will align the rates payable to dependents with those payable to sufferers under both of the schemes. This means dependents will receive compensation calculated using the same rates as eligible sufferers, providing a single payment structure under each of the schemes. For families already coping with the loss of a loved one, these changes will provide greater financial support at an obviously difficult time. Now, Dr. Huq, campaigners have long called for this change. Let me pay tribute in particular to Joanne Gordon and John Flanagan, who I was with earlier this afternoon, of the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK, to the remarkable work of Liz Darlison and her team at Mesothelioma UK, who've repeatedly raised this concern with me, to Hugh Robertson of the TUC, and to Thompson Solicitors, who've all campaigned for this change.
Among the parliamentarians who've done so, let me just single out the late Bill McKenzie, the Lord McKenzie of Luton, my honourable friend's local council leader, I think, for some time, who said as the minister in 2010 that equalisation was the aim, quote, "when resources allowed", and then campaigned for equalisation as the opposition spokesperson in the years subsequent to that. The regulations also make provision for circumstances where an individual dies after making a valid claim but before payment is made. In those cases, payment may be made to the claimant's personal representatives. This will help make sure that compensation can still be paid where somebody has done everything required of them to make a claim but sadly dies before their award can be issued. For the 1979 Act scheme, the regulations also make a number of consequential changes to support the reforms.