SOME victims of an asbestos-linked condition will receive pay-outs of £5,000 under a compensation scheme which finally got under way yesterday.
But the move came as the new Government was forced to deny it was pulling the plug on plans for a multi-million pound research centre into the deadly disease.
Meanwhile, no decision has been made on whether to press ahead with a £400m “fund of last resort” to compensate former workers unable to trace the employers which exposed them to asbestos dust.
The £5,000 compensation will be paid to sufferers of “pleural plaques” – a scarring of the lungs which can trigger mesothelioma and lung cancer – who were diagnosed before October 17, 2007.
On that day, the Law Lords ruled the existence of pleural plaques was not “actionable damage”, preventing pay-outs to anyone diagnosed later.
The Labour Government was accused of abandoning future sufferers by deciding not to overturn the ruling, even though it was being overturned in Scotland.
Asbestos exposure is a “ticking timebomb” in Merseyside because of its history of heavy industry, particularly among shipbuilders, carpenters, joiners, plumbers and heating engineers.
More than 1,300 workers died from mesothelioma over the 25 years to 2005.
The blackspots were Wirral (278 deaths), Liverpool (179), Sefton (158), Knowsley (90) and Halton (74).
Now the 6,000 early pleural plaques sufferers can apply for £5,000 pay-outs, either by calling the Ministry of Justice or by completing an online application form on its website.
To receive compensation, applicants must produce their claim form and documents of support, which were sent either to the defendant or insurer.
Failing that, they must supply proof of diagnosis of pleural plaques.
Details about eligibility for the scheme and how to apply are available at www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/pleural-plaques-compensation-scheme.htm, or by telephoning the helpline on 0300 303 8150.
Before the election, Labour pledged funding for a national centre for asbestos-related diseases, to be kick-started with £3m promised by insurers. In a Parliamentary answer, health minister Simon Burns ducked a challenge to confirm that funding, prompting a Labour MP to warn the promise was about to be ditched.
But, in a statement, the Department of Health (DoH) insisted it had asked the National Cancer Research Institute to carry out a review of future research, to report in the autumn.
The £400m “fund of last resort” was proposed under a consultation run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which closed three months ago on May 5. Since the election, the Coalition has been silent on the issue.
A DWP spokeswoman said: “We have not yet responded to the consultation and we have no timetable for doing so.”
