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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

My Lords, I give a general welcome to the Bill: any improvement on the present system has to be welcomed. When I was a Member of the other place, most of my mailbag and certainly most of my surgery cases involved dealing with the Child Support Act 1991. Most of the debate this morning has been about the Child Support Agency, but I want to confine my remarks to Part 4 of the Bill, which deals with lump-sum payments for mesothelioma. I worked in a shipyard and the ship-repairing industry for 37 years before I was elected to the other place in 1979. Many of my colleagues unfortunately died of asbestos-related diseases and I have seen first hand what a terrible death that is. I only wish that my honourable friend Mick Clapham next door had pressed his amendment regarding pleural plaques. The noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, is the only one this morning who has referred to pleural plaques. For almost 20 years compensation was paid to those who were diagnosed with pleural plaques. There is no way that a person can get them other than through exposure to asbestos. Pleural plaques are a result of penetration of the lungs by asbestos fibres and often cause breathlessness. They occur as a result of asbestos fibres passing through to the back of the lung, causing hardening of the pleura that protect the lungs. When someone is diagnosed with pleural plaques it often causes stress and anxiety both to them and to their families, who are well aware that a proportion of those so diagnosed will go on to develop a more serious asbestos-related disease. Since the Law Lords ruling on pleural plaques on 17 October there has been a great deal of anger and concern, especially in areas such as the one where I live in South Tyneside, a great shipbuilding area where most of the male employment was in ship building and repairing—as it is no longer because the industry was destroyed during the 1980s. A report in the Shields Gazette by Kaye Hendry from the British Lung Foundation found that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes conditions such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema, was prevalent in the Tyne and Wear area. South Tyneside has the highest proportion of people at risk of future hospital admission from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 62 per cent above the national average. After the Law Lords ruling I received a petition which reads: "““For the attention of Lord Don Dixon.""““This is a heartfelt appeal from workers in Jarrow and surrounding areas and their families. We would be very grateful for a few moments of your time to consider our circumstances. We have been diagnosed with pleural plaques described to us as scarring of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos. At this time, there is no evidence to show that it is harmful in itself. However, any soft tissue damage, especially to a vital organ, cannot be considered as a positive thing. Furthermore, this scarring proves exposure to asbestos and we are well aware that this exposure can result in asbestosis. Many of us have close family or friends who have suffered from asbestosis and have seen the devastating effects of that disease””." The petition was signed by more than 200 people in South Tyneside who were ex-shipyard workers or the relatives of workers who had been diagnosed as having pleural plaques. They do not need to be told that they are safe and that only a small proportion of those diagnosed with pleural plaques go on to get asbestos-related diseases. Listening to the debate next door, I was concerned that the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill said: "““Following careful consideration of the 17 October 2007 House of Lords Judgment on pleural plaques and having listened to the views of representatives of asbestos campaign groups and of the insurance industry, the Scottish Government has decided to introduce a Bill to reverse the Judgment so that those negligently exposed to asbestos who have been diagnosed with pleural plaques will … be able to raise and pursue actions for ""damages in Scotland. We will prepare a Bill which would take effect from the date of the Judgment””." Will my noble friend say whether it is possible for such a Bill to be introduced by the Scottish Parliament, as I have been informed that civic law and law on damages are devolved matters? If it succeeds, and I hope it does, we will have another anomaly on this side of the Border. A great and late colleague of mine, Harry Cowans, former MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central—in his maiden speech in the 1974-79 Labour Government, when devolution was being debated—said: "““If Scotland gets devolution and nothing is done about the north-east of England, that would be like waking up one morning to find your next-door neighbour has won the pools””." His words will be true if ex-shipyard workers on the Clyde get compensation for pleural plaques but ex-shipyard workers on the Tyne do not. When you add this issue to prescription charges, student fees and care for the elderly, I am afraid that there will be further resentment in the north of England about devolution in Scotland. There was an article by Terry Kelly in the local paper—the Shields Gazette—headed ““Asbestos Ruling to be Challenged””. It refers to what I have just said about the Scottish Parliament and states: "““Former shipyard worker Fred Hewitt, of Fellside, South Shields, who has lived for years with the fear and anxiety of pleural plaques, or scarring of the lung tissue, welcomed the latest development in the compensation saga. Mr Hewitt, 73, who has seen friends die of … asbestos-related disease …said ‘This news is champion, and I hope they are successful. But there should not be different laws on either side of the border””." The Government have the opportunity in Part 4 to rectify that anomaly. I sincerely hope that, when the Bill goes to Committee, the Government will seriously consider what was said next door by my honourable friend Mick Clapham and what has been said today on Second Reading of the Bill.