THE Mesothelioma Bill passed its final parliamentary stage before Christmas and will become law once it receives Royal assent.

While welcomed by those who have developed asbestos-related mesothelioma, the fight to help those yet to develop this disease and ensure numbers of future victims are kept as low as possible by reducing the risk of asbestos exposure goes on.

The Bill will provide around 300 victims average payouts of £100,000, while enabling those unable trace the responsible employer or insurer to receive compensation through a scheme funded by a levy on current insurers.

I would argue that this scheme does not go far enough in compensating victims, or in providing for those victims who are still to come.

Mesothelioma’s latent period can last between ten and 40 years and asbestos remains the biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK.

Therefore, the question is not if we will see more cases, but how many and what we are going to do about what could be just the tip of an asbestos iceberg ahead of us.

With asbestos present in many of our schools and our public buildings, this is not an issue we or indeed the Government can afford to take for granted.

David Nichol, Nichol Associates.