Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Freud on 5 June (HL Deb, GC 235), what assumptions they used on the percentage figure of claims that claimants would receive of any compensation to which they were entitled under the scheme set out in the Mesothelioma Bill [HL] in forecasting the projected costs of that scheme of either £119 or £747 million.[HL701]
Answer
The two figures quoted in the question are:
£119 million - The estimated cost of the levy if the scheme start date was moved to the 20th or 21st February 2010.
£747 million - the estimates cost of the levy if the scheme start date was in 1968.
Both figures use the same assumptions as those in the 2013 published Impact Assessment1, except here we use a legal fee figure of £2,000 per case instead of £7,000 per case, no government funding is included and the assumption of the proposed tariff to use 70% of average civil compensation. Dates are rounded to the nearest quarter (i.e. taking the start date from 1st January 2010). Further information can be found in the ad hoc statistical publication, published on 05/06/2013 entitled 'Analysis to support the passage of the Mesothelioma Bill' http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/ asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2013/mesothelioma_bill_04 062013.pdf.1 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/198388/mesothelioma-payment-scheme-impact-assessment.pdf.