Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) applications and (b) awards he estimates will be made by the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme in (i) the first year of the scheme and (ii) each of the next 10 years.

The information requested is available from the Impact Assessment for the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme which was published in March 2014. This sets out the anticipated levels of claims, awards and costs over the first 10 years of the scheme.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/286525/mesothelioma-payment-scheme-ia-mar-2014.pdf

The scheme has now been running since April 2014 with payments being made from July 2014. We will review the estimates made in the Impact Assessment in light of data on the actual number of claims and payments made in 2014/15 and will publish the outcome of that review in due course.