11 February 2008

The Scottish Executive has launched a consultation on the likely impact of a new Bill to ensure people with pleural plaques can continue to claim compensation for their condition.

The executive decided to introduce the Bill after the House of Lords ruled in October 2007 that workers with the asbestos-related condition should not be able to claim compensation on grounds of negligence.

The House of Lords decision is not binding in Scotland but is "highly persuasive and has already been cited in a Court of Session case," noted the executive.

On 6 February the Scottish government published a partial regulatory impact assessment on the proposed new Bill, which will cover asymptomatic asbestosis and pleural thickening as well as pleural plaques.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said, "Pleural plaques in anyone exposed to asbestos mean they have a greatly increased lifetime risk of developing mesothelioma and a small but significantly increased risk of developing bronchial carcinoma.

"This will mean that people diagnosed with this condition will have to live with the worry of possible future ill health for the rest of their lives.

"That is why this Scottish Government announced last November that we are to take steps to reverse the House of Lords judgment and ensure that people with pleural plaques can continue to raise an action for damages.

"So that the House of Lords judgment does not have an effect in Scotland we need to make sure that people who have developed symptomless forms of other asbestos related conditions can continue to be able to claim for damages. So we intend to include provisions in the bill to make sure that is the case."

Responses to the consultation are required by 4 April. A full regulatory impact assessment will be published before the Bill is introduced to parliament, which is expected to be before the summer recess.

The consultation document can be accessed here.

Categories: Asbestos, Asbestos, News



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