MP hits back at new '˜despicable' rule change

A South Yorkshire MP is calling on the government to reverse a rule change that makes it harder for former miners, and their relatives, to claim compensation for potentially fatal lung disease.

Barnsley East MP Michael Dugher is helping spearhead a campaign for an urgent rethink from ministers, amid fears that ex-miners and their families could be ‘cheated’ out of a vital cash lifeline.

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Thousands of miners contracted pneumoconiosis - also known as miner’s lung or black lung - after breathing in coal dust at work. Under the 1974 Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme, ex-miners, as well as their widows or family members, are able to claim for compensation for their illnesses.

But Mr Dugher has warned that a change in the rules for making compensation claims could affect thousands of families of ex-miners in Barnsley and across South Yorkshire.

The Department for Work and Pensions, which administers the scheme, has ruled that the relatives of deceased miners will be forced to include a Grant of Probate with any compensation claim.

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The change will make claiming compensation harder because families are likely to have to pay for solicitors or legal advice to get the Grant of Probate – a legal document which proves they have the right to deal with the deceased miner’s assets and administer their estate.

Mr Dugher has thrown his support behind a House of Commons motion calling for a U-turn on the rule change, amid fears that it is a move to cut the cash paid out under the compensation scheme.

Mr Dugher said: “These changes look like a cynical attempt by the government to to make it harder to make a claim. Thousands of miners have been afflicted by this terrible disease through no fault of their own, simply because they were doing an already difficult and dangerous job.

“This is a despicable attack on those who are suffering the impact of a terminal illness and the rules should be reversed immediately.”