Government to end asbestos disability compensation for manual workers?

Published on Mon 29 Jan 2007

The Government is considering ending the Industrial Injuries Disabled Benefit, reports Guardian Unlimited.

The scheme pays compensation to workers who suffer illness or injury where liability cannot be proved. When the scheme started in 1948 the UK still had a large manufacturing industry but with the decline of major asbestos-using industries such as shipbuilding, ministers are unsure whether it is still relevant despite the GBP 776 million paid from the scheme every year