Written question asked by Fraser Kemp (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 February 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 February 2010. It was answered by Helen Goodman (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Mining: Industrial Diseases

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many former miners have (a) applied for and (b) been granted industrial injuries benefit for miners' knee in the North East region to date.

Answer: The information is not available in the format requested.The current national position is that since the addition of osteoarthritis of the knee to the list of prescribed industrial diseases on 13 July 2009, 32,820 claims have been received nationally of which 7,713 have received an award of, or an increase of industrial injuries disablement benefit.This information is based on an ongoing informal count by the Jobcentre Plus offices dealing with industrial injuries disablement benefit. We are looking into arrangements to publish this information as official statistics.

Secondary information