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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

I am able to confirm that the Government will explore, with key stakeholders, the idea of a register of the sort that my hon. Friends suggest would be viable and provide practical benefits. I am happy to make that commitment to my hon. Friends. They have focused on the steps that we now have to take, having given a commitment to have the appropriate discussions with all potential stakeholders in this area, and to see how we can proceed with the helpful suggestion of a register. My hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone is right to say that some of the data that we would need to assemble for the register will already exist. We may not need to start from scratch, and we could include in the register people already known to be in that situation, such as those mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody). As we make progress with the commitment that I have given, we will have discussions with organisations, such as the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, that may already be in possession of some of the data. My hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone makes an interesting point about the position of the lawyers, and my hon. Friend the Member for East Lothian asked how we can pay for a register, if that is the way forward. As we have our discussions, we will want to meet the representatives of the insurance industry, and we will discuss what contribution they can make to establishing a register. That will be an important dialogue, especially given the many comments made in this debate about the contribution of the insurance industry to this issue and the role that it could play in helping us to work out a solution. Many Labour Members want us to keep the matter under review, and in doing so, it is reasonable to point out the role of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council, which monitors and recommends changes in connection with the diseases for which industrial injuries disablement benefit can be paid. That can include consideration of the same lung diseases as are covered by the 1979 Act. If appropriate, the 1979 Act will be changed to reflect new scientific opinion, as expressed to the IIAC. Hon. Members who, for understandable reasons, concentrate on this issue may be aware that back in July 2005, the IIAC published its report on its review of asbestos-related disease. In that report, the council recognised that symptomatic pleural plaques can occur, and that is an important finding, because there is some argument on that point. For the Government, it is important to have advice from an authoritative body that studies all the scientific evidence. We have to depend on the view that the council puts to us, and that is why it is important.