Written question asked by Michael Clapham (Labour) on Wednesday, 21 October 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 28 October 2009. It was answered by Jonathan Shaw (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 November 2009 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims for osteoarthritis of the knee have been received from coal miners and former coal miners since osteoarthritis of the knee became a prescribed industrial disease; how many have resulted in an award of industrial injury disablement benefit; and how many have resulted in an appeal to a medical appeal tribunal.

Answer: [holding answer 28 October 2009]: The most recent available information is that 25,247 claims have been received for osteoarthritis of the knee since the condition was added to the list of prescribed industrial diseases on 13 July 2009.At this early stage, 3,411 claims have been processed, of which 858 have received an award of industrial injuries disablement benefit, or an increase of industrial injuries disablement benefit.113 appeals have been received; it is not possible to specify how many of these are appeals on medical grounds.We are currently looking into arrangements to publish this information as official statistics.

Secondary information