Mesothelioma Bill [Lords]

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the Minister and the shadow Minister for their words.

New Clause 2

Research supplement

‘(1) This section makes provision about the research supplement mentioned in section 13.

(2) The research supplement—

(a) must be expressed by regulations under section 13 as a percentage of the amount set for the purpose specified in section 13(1) in accordance with section 13(2) to (5); and

(b) may not exceed 1 per cent of that amount.

(3) Regulations under section 13 must include provision about the application of the research supplement; in particular, the regulations—

(a) must include provision for amounts raised by way of the research supplement to be applied by way of grants or other financial assistance for research into mesothelioma;

(b) must require the scheme administrator to make arrangements for the application of the research supplement;

(c) may allow the scheme administrator to arrange for a body which handles applications for research funding to administer the research supplement on the scheme administrator’s behalf;

(d) may allow receipts by way of research supplement in respect of one period to be held for allocation in a later period, and for investment of receipts pending allocation.

(4) Before making regulations in respect of the research supplement the Secretary of State must consult—

(a) insurers;

(b) medical charities and research foundations; and

(c) other persons or bodies who the Secretary of State thinks are likely to be interested.’.—(Tracey Crouch.)

Brought up, and read the First time.

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

[Mr Speaker]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 11, in clause 1, page 1, line 6, at end insert

‘; and for funding research into mesothelioma (through the research supplement under section [Research supplement]).’.

Amendment 12, in clause 13, page 7, line 10, at end insert—

‘( ) The regulations mentioned in subsection (1) must provide for the levy to include a research supplement in accordance with section [Research supplement] (in addition to the amounts set for the purpose specified in subsection (1)).’.

Amendment 13, in clause 13, page 7, line 11, after ‘levy’, insert ‘(not including the research supplement)’.

Amendment 14, in clause 13, page 7, line 16, after ‘levy’, insert ‘(not including the research supplement)’.

Amendment 15, in clause 13, page 7, line 18, after ‘levy’, insert ‘(not including the research supplement)’.

[Tracey Crouch]

New clause 2 and the associated amendments were tabled by the right hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Paul Goggins), and are supported by me and other hon. Members. It seems an appropriate moment to send my very best wishes to the right hon. Gentleman and his family, and I pray that he recovers soon from his severe illness. He is well respected on both sides of the House and has been a champion for fairer and quicker justice and compensation for victims of asbestos-related diseases. While we do not agree on all aspects of asbestos compensation, the one condition we do share a deep commitment to is that of mesothelioma, and we have worked hard together to find cross-party consensus on aspects of the Bill. Although it is somewhat humbling, it gives me great pleasure to move this new clause and the consequential amendments on the right hon. Gentleman’s behalf.

The right hon. Gentleman spoke on the issue of medical research at length in Committee, and I do not wish to repeat all that he said. However, it is important to remind the House of several key points. The first, and in my view one of the most important points, is that we must remember the sufferers of this dreadful condition in everything we debate today. Mesothelioma is a fatal disease caused only by exposure to asbestos and while its severity can be affected by other factors, it is effectively a disease contracted simply as a consequence of going to work. Doctors who treat meso victims will tell you that it is by far the worst type of lung cancer that anyone can contract, and unfortunately it is likely to cause not only a swift death but an incredibly painful one.

Mesothelioma is not an industrial working-class disease. Although it may be more prevalent among those who have lagged ships or worked in heavy industry, the truth is that anyone exposed to asbestos can become a victim of mesothelioma. We are seeing an increasing number of teachers suffering from this disease and of course there are those who contract it via secondary exposure, such as the wives who washed their husbands’ overalls.

Medical research to help ease the pain and suffering of those who contract mesothelioma is essential, but we must also try and find a cure, not least because we know that the peak of those to be diagnosed is yet to come. Nearly 2,500 people will die from meso this coming year and over the next 25 years some 60,000 might die from the disease, but research into this cancer is shamefully underfunded.

Before entering this House, I was proud to be part of the efforts made by my then employer, the insurance company Aviva, and three other global insurers—AXA, Zurich and RSA—to provide funding of more than £2.5 million to the British Lung Foundation to invest in research projects. It was good to meet many of my former colleagues at a reception held in the House last year to see progress on some of those projects, one of which has been the incredibly important development of a meso-bank. The meso-bank collects tissue and blood samples from sufferers and will provide an opportunity for fundamental and translational research, which will help not only those with the condition in the UK but those in developing countries where the export and use of asbestos has been less controlled—an issue that the right hon. Gentleman also raised in Committee.

Alongside the meso-bank there have been other projects including those being run at the Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth, which is looking at whether specialist palliative care immediately after diagnosis could help relieve the symptoms of mesothelioma, and that at the university of Sheffield which is looking at different treatment packages to relieve pain from this awful disease. Those projects are excellent, top-quality research projects, which would not have been possible without the initial grant from the big four insurers, but unfortunately the funding comes to an end this year, which is somewhat disappointing given that we are about to start the upward trend in those being diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Sadly, meso research funding lags far behind that of other cancers with similar mortality rates. Myeloma and melanoma had £5 million and £5.5 million spent on research respectively, which is about 10 times more than on meso—the irony being that the UK has the highest death rate from mesothelioma in the world.

The amendments would kick-start a long-term secure funding stream for further medical research into mesothelioma by placing a hypothecated levy on all members of the industry, not just the big four. There is concern about whether that would create a precedent for such a levy, but that precedent already exists. We have seen levies placed on the gambling industry, under the Gambling Act 2005, to fund projects related to addiction, and on lotteries, for similar reasons. Levies have also been placed on utility companies. This could be done for the right reasons—to provide essential funding for research projects.

I have read Hansard for the previous discussion on this matter, so I know that the Minister pledged to raise the issue with the industry. My sources tell me that that has now happened, so it would be useful to have an update on the meeting. I believe it was agreed that further discussions with the Association of British Insurers and the British Lung Foundation were to be arranged but that this has yet to happen. I appreciate that with the severe weather over the Christmas period there may have been a delay, but it would be extremely helpful to the House if the Minister could update us on where he thinks this is now going. While I recognise the desire from the Minister for it to remain a voluntary agreement between the industry and research organisations, I would be keen to hear what he intends to do if there is no long-term stable funding agreement, and whether he would commit to introducing secondary legislation to this Bill if that is the case. It would also be helpful if the Minister could commit to the Government overseeing the facilitation of the voluntary scheme. By what date does he hope it will be in force, and can he say in terms how much he would hope the funding to be?

Mesothelioma is undeniably a dreadful condition and research into it is shamefully underfunded. We anticipate more people will be diagnosed over the coming years, from all occupational backgrounds, so it would be helpful to have a strong commitment from the Minister —albeit one recognising that this is not wholly his departmental responsibility—that there will be progress in trying to discover a cure and/or suitable treatment to relieve the horrible suffering from mesothelioma.

In moving the new clause, I hope that I have done justice to the right hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East on the need for extra funding for research, and I look forward to the Minister’s reply.

[Hon. Members]

Hear, hear!

--- Later in debate ---

I have done everything I was asked to do and had committed to doing in Committee. Much more work is to be done, but I cannot break the deal that has been agreed. I am afraid that this is going to be a repetitive comment from me, as it was in Committee. I see the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown) nodding, because he knows of the constraints I am under, just as the right hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East always knew. We need the deal to go through, so that we can get the compensation going out as soon as possible. With that, I respectfully ask for the new clause to be withdrawn, although I would fully understand it if we proceeded to a vote.

[Tracey Crouch]

This has been an incredibly hard debate for me to participate in. I do not think I have ever contributed to a debate on mesothelioma in this place without opposite me the right hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Paul Goggins) discussing the surrounding issues. He is a decent man and he would have heard what the Minister said; he would have understood the lengths to which the Minister has gone to make some progress on the issue. As the Minister says, none of us probably knows for certain what the right hon. Gentleman would have done on this issue right now. Given that I moved the new clause on his behalf, however, it is incumbent on me to say that I think he would have liked to see a more concrete response, although I say that without any disrespect to the progress that the Minister has made. I would therefore like to press new clause 2 to the vote.

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Brown]

On that last point, I am more aware than anyone else in this place could be of the forces that would be in favour of the option to do nothing, and I have paid my tribute to the Minister for doing something rather than nothing. He should take pride in the job he has done, and I pay him all credit for it. That £80 million will be the top figure—it will be the highest possible figure that the officials believe they can give the Minister so that he can use it to dissuade the House. I am not entirely convinced by it. He cannot possibly know the real figure, because we will not know that until the cases come forward—it could well be a lot less. I would be willing to take a chance on it and to do justice to the victims. Let us stand the Minister’s argument on its head. He is inviting us to do the victims of this horrible disease—or, more likely, their families and dependants—out of £80 million. I do not want to do that, so I will want to put the proposition to the vote.

[Tracey Crouch]

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown), to whose contribution I listened with interest. I rise to speak to amendment 1, which stands in my name and that of other hon. Members from all parts of the House. It is an amendment on a variation of the theme: there is not a consensus, particularly among campaigners for fairer compensation for mesothelioma victims, that the current 75% figure is acceptable. Despite the excellent efforts of Lord Freud and the Minister to bring this Bill before the House, I am afraid that there is still some disappointment that the level of compensation does not go far enough. My amendment seeks to increase the level of compensation from 75% to 80%, and not to the higher percentages proposed by others. Although I recognise that 100% would be the most perfect outcome for victims, the truth is that the Bill would probably not be in front of the House today if that were the case and if that were the only option under consideration.

Although an extra 5% compensation does not sound very much, it is the equivalent of an average extra £6,000 to the victim, which is no small sum to someone trying to finalise their financial arrangements before they pass away. To those of us who seek justice on their behalf, that seems a much fairer figure, not least because they will be asked to give back 100% of the industrial disease and social security benefits that they have received as a consequence of getting mesothelioma, and that is estimated to be around £20,000 on average.

Much has already been said on that issue during previous stages of this Bill in both Houses. I will repeat what I said on Second Reading, which is that Lord Freud deserves praise for negotiating with the insurance industry and for raising the original figure for compensation from 70% to 75%. However, sources in the insurance industry told me that Lord Freud himself wanted 80%, and therefore by moving this amendment today, I am merely reiterating the Minister’s previous desire for a better outcome. Then, with the support from colleagues today, he could have a parliamentary mandate to go back to the industry to start renegotiating compensation levels.

The negotiations and their subsequent outcome were based around another figure—that of the cost of the scheme to the insurance industry being no more than 3% of gross written premium. The argument for introducing the arbitrary figure of 3% was to ensure that the insurance industry would not pass on to its own customers the cost of running the scheme. In its more recent impact assessment, the Government surprisingly stated:

“It is possible that insurers will pass the cost of the scheme onto customers via increased premiums. If it did happen the impact on customers would be relatively low, estimated at 2.46% on average per year on EL insurance premiums.”

Given that inflation is currently running higher than the estimated potential increase in employers’ liability premiums as outlined in the impact assessment, I am pretty certain that the premiums will go up regardless of this scheme. That means that the insurance industry will incur no net loss as a consequence, especially as it will still receive the same Government funding incentive to smooth the first four years of the running of the scheme. The argument being put forward about the EL insurance premium rise is a bit of a red herring. The real debate is around the assumptions of the scheme. Under previous assumptions of legal costs, the scheme could have been extended to provide compensation of 80%. We have had that debate before. We had it on Second Reading and throughout the Committee stage, and the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East has mentioned it again. Revised figures of costs—assumptions provided to the Department by insurance and personal injury lawyers—mean that 80% compensation would push the levy over a four-year period above the 3% figure, albeit marginally. However, over a 10-year period—the period I too prefer to look at given the longevity of the mesothelioma disease and when it is likely to occur—80% compensation is well below the threshold at 2.61%. Arguments over the precise nature of legal costs aside, albeit ones that were superbly made in Committee by my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Stephen Phillips), it seems incredibly unfair that two days before Second Reading in this House, assumptions were changed, and that was wholly for the convenience of the insurance industry. Unfortunately, that means that the victims of the disease will not get the extra compensation they deserve.

I have been warned that if my amendment were to be agreed, the insurance industry would walk away from providing the scheme. I am afraid to say that that is bunkum, and it would be incredibly foolish of the industry to do such a thing. It has highly paid public affairs advisers—I should know as I was one before I entered this House—who will be telling their bosses to read the mood music from the contributions to debates on this Bill in both Houses. There have been calls for the scheme to pay out compensation of 110%, 100% and 90%. There have been calls for the legislation to extend to other asbestos diseases such as pleural plaques and to include those suffering from mesothelioma from secondary sources. There have been references to the profits made by the UK’s £40 billion insurance industry and there have been expressions of disappointment in the long-term failure of the industry to deal with this matter prior to statutory intervention via this Bill.

Do I think the insurance industry will walk away from this Bill leaving tens of thousands of mesothelioma victims without compensation? We are talking about victims who contracted a fatal disease because they did the honourable thing and went to work to provide for their family and who need this scheme because of poor record keeping by the insurance industry and/or their employers. No, I do not think that will happen.

[Mr David Anderson (Blaydon) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on what she has done and on what she is saying so far today. I hope that she is right, but does she not understand the track record of these insurance companies? They have challenged mesothelioma victims for decades, and I hope that we can stop them today because people are getting fed up with the way they behave.

[Tracey Crouch]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. Decades ago, the insurance industry would have held up its hands and said that, in hindsight, it had treated victims very badly. To be fair to the bigger players in the insurance industry, they have certainly tried, over the past five to 10 years, to improve the system of compensation for victims. They have set up the Employers' Liability Tracing Office and provided funding for research. Some of those bigger insurers have started to play catch-up for the mesothelioma victims. However, I recognise the concerns expressed by the Opposition over pleural plaques. As it happens, I was part of the insurance team that ensured that pleural plaques did not become a legislative issue in this House, and I stand by that decision today. That will remain a difference of opinion that we have on a specific asbestos-related disease. Where we do need consensus is over mesothelioma. It is a fatal condition and one that will kill somebody incredibly quickly and very painfully. I want to make sure that those victims who cannot trace their insurer or employer have access to the scheme and get the highest amount of compensation possible.

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. She said that people will be looking at this debate and, with that in mind, I hope that she understands that I also want to support her amendment this afternoon. However, the impact of the £6,000 she mentioned—the additional 5%—on the people in my constituency who have been affected, or know someone who has been affected, by this, cannot be underestimated. I entirely concur with what she said on the figure, and I hope that the Minister will listen and consider how the £6,000 will impact on the people in our areas.

[Tracey Crouch]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that issue. The people we represent share a similar profile and we both have former dockers in our constituencies who will contract mesothelioma in the future, so I am very grateful for his support. I know that the current and future victims will be grateful to him.

[Mr Sheerman]

I know that the point about traditional employment and so on has been reiterated many times, but my dear brother, Robert—Rob—who died of this disease, worked in the research centre at Sunbury-on-Thames for British Petroleum, one of the leading science and technology companies in the country. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown) said, those people knew about the disease very early on. Does the hon. Lady agree that the insurance industry too often hides behind the trade association, the Association of British Insurers? We cannot get through to the real insurers as that very combative trade association gives them cover.

[Tracey Crouch]

I am interested in the hon. Gentleman’s first point about occupations. We must be very clear that this situation is not confined to the traditional working class, although it is more likely to be prominent as they were more exposed to asbestos than anybody else. Anyone who has been exposed to asbestos is in danger of contracting mesothelioma.

On the hon. Gentleman’s second point, he must recognise that there are 150 players in the insurance industry and it is only fair that they should have a trade association that represents them. When I recently looked through the ministerial meeting list, I noticed that although the ABI was meeting Ministers, it did so with the top four insurers by its side. There are representatives in such meetings of the individual insurers as well as the trade association.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tracey Crouch]

I am pleased that we have reached Third Reading of this Bill. It is a welcome Bill, but I remain disappointed that it is not as good as it could and should have been if we were to provide fair and reasonable justice to the victims of mesothelioma. I recognise the constraints that the Minister was under as a consequence of the negotiations that were made before the Bill entered this Chamber. Although it is a good day for the victims of mesothelioma, it could have been a great day for them had some of the amendments that were tabled on Report been listened to.

[Mike Penning]

Let me place it on the record—I think I did this earlier—that my hon. Friend could not have done more for her constituents during the progression of this Bill through the House. I paid tribute to her earlier on, and I do so again now.

[Tracey Crouch]

I am grateful to the Minister for his comments. My constituency has high levels of mesothelioma because of its dockyard history and the heavy industries that surround the Medway towns. Earlier, the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock) expressed concern that I might be poacher turned gamekeeper as a consequence of my time in the insurance industry before coming to this place and trying to secure better compensation for mesothelioma victims. My bosses from my previous life know that I was strong campaigner for mesothelioma victims. Indeed I was proud of the efforts that I took during my time in the insurance industry to try to improve access to compensation. It just so happens that I was also elected to a constituency that has high levels of mesothelioma.

I am pleased that we had a debate today, but, as I have said, I remain slightly disappointed that nothing has happened to the Bill since it received its Second Reading. I see that as a failure in the way that Parliament works. Although I pay tribute to the Minister’s officials, who have worked incredibly hard and been generous with their time, it is a shame that the Bill that was prepared before our debate in Parliament is exactly the same now despite the fact that there is a strong will on both sides of the House to improve the legislation.

Let me pay tribute, as I did on Second Reading, to Lord Freud. He had a difficult time in getting the insurance industry to the table. I notice from the list of meetings that he met with the industry many times. Although he has had fewer meetings with the asbestos working group, it has had access to civil servants. He has done a good job, and would, I think, share the Minister’s view that this is not a perfect Bill. In a perfect world, he would have liked much better legislation.

None the less, both Ministers, my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning) and Lord Freud, are quite right when they say that this legislation would not have happened had it not been for this Government, and I welcome that. I remember the negotiations that took place with the previous Government and it is quite right for the Ministers to say that they are proud of where they have got to. Mesothelioma victims will be better off as they will have access to some compensation but, as I have said, I still think that the Bill is flawed.

I also want to pay tribute to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Stephen Phillips), who did a fantastic job in Committee in raising many of the issues I would have liked to have raised personally. He brought to the debate understanding of the issues of mesothelioma and the concerns of the victims. Having met victims, he understands how awful the disease is, that it is a fatal disease that can be contracted only through exposure to asbestos and that victims will, unfortunately, die an incredibly painful death. He did a fantastic job of bringing forward many of the points I would have liked to have made.

I also want again to pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Paul Goggins). He and I have worked on this issue for many months and years and it seems strange to stand up in this Chamber and discuss mesothelioma without his being in the House. I hope that he recognises that those of us who have tabled amendments and spoken in the debate have done so partly on his behalf. He has been a sound campaigner on the issue for many years. He is a decent man and all he wants to do is to try to improve the compensation for victims of this dreadful disease.

I look forward to the publication of the regulations and welcome the fact that there will be a review of the legislation. Like the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green), I rather innocently and possibly even naively believe that we should be making legislation that does not need to be reviewed in four years’ time and that it could be better scrutinised and considered in this place and in the other place before it passes into law. We are where we are, however, so I congratulate the Minister on getting the Bill through the House on time. I am pleased that many victims will secure some sort of compensation for a disease that they got simply by going to work.