Government admits: miners will lose out

The effect is likely to slash pay-outs from the current average of £10,000 to far more modest sums.

The Northern Echo understands that up to 230,000 of the remaining 378,000 ex-miners and their families may be affected.

The admission by Coal Health Minister Nigel Griffiths is in a letter which former coalfield community MPs will get today.

Under pressure from MPs - who have demanded a "clear the air" meeting with him next Tuesday - Mr Griffiths has revealed how the Government plans to bring forward the processing of more than 378,000 claims from ex-miners and their families by making "flat rate" offers.

The move confirmed exclusive reports in The Northern Echo last week that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was planning to bring in controversial proposals to speed up claim handling by denying thousands access to full medicals.

In the face of opposition from MPs and claimant solicitors the DTI wants to make final offers on the basis of the results of a simple lung-function test.

Currently, the test is usually the precursor to a full medical examination by a chest physician.

But under the new scheme, anyone who believes he is entitled to more compensation would be barred from having a medical. In the case of a disputed pay-out the only option would be to take legal action that could take years.

The proposals are subject to approval by a High Court judge, who is due to rule on October 19.

Last night, Barnsley West MP Mick Clapham, chairman of the mining interest group of MPs, said: "We wouldn't have known what was happening until the Echo phoned me. Your newspaper has had a big effect on all of this."

The Government also intends to make "take it or leave it" offers to the families of deceased claimants, where there are no medical records and no surviving widow.

This departs from the previous approach in which a medical assessment was made according to all available information about a deceased miner. Instead an offer will be based on what is on the claimant's death certificate.

However, the DTI have said that where widows survive, the claims will go into the medical assessment process stage.

In his letter, Mr Griffiths said the change "is essential in order to deliver compensation to claimants within a reasonable time frame".

He said the full medical assessment was a "bottle neck", with the main constraint being the lack of available respiratory specialists in the UK.

The minister said it was intended to keep the proposals confidential until after a High Court hearing later this month, but following The Northern Echo's reports it was "necessary to share our proposals with you to dispel the rumours being circulated".

He said: "Neither of the parties is seeking a reduction in the overall amount of compensation."

Since the respiratory compensation scheme was announced in 1997, 530,000 claims have been made by ex-miners or their families. Another 170,000 claims have been made for compensation for a disabling condition called Vibration White Finger caused by operating heavy equipment.

So far a total of 152,00 respiratory claims have been settled and payments totalling £1.2bn made.

This leaves another 378,000 respiratory disease claims awaiting settlement. A further 93,000 Vibration White Finger claims have been settled at a cost of £1bn.

Legal costs could add as much as £ bn to the final bill, although reducing the number of medical assessments could reduce this.

Before the letter's contents were released last night, Mr Clapham said the situation's gravity demanded that minister attend next Tuesday's meeting with MPs and miners' solicitors.

"We want to know precisely what their proposals are and we want to be sure that on-one is going to be disadvantaged by them."

The MPs, the Claimants Solicitors Group and the National Union of Miners have all said previously that they will oppose any scheme which prevents the claimants from having access to a full medical assessment if they are unhappy with an initial offer.