Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council has made on its review of lung cancer and COPD in former employees of the health and beauty industry.

The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council have recently commissioned a comprehensive review and evaluation of the literature, including epidemiology, on work-related malignant and non-malignant respiratory diseases, primarily focussing on lung cancer and COPD. The broad remit of the review will cover former employees of the health and beauty industry and associated exposures. The review, which is about to commence, will inform the prescriptions for the purposes of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits. The review is expected to take up to two years to complete, after which time the Council will report on its findings.