Jack Straw has told the House of Commons that the long awaited announcement on Pleural Plaques compensation would be delayed yet again until the Autumn. A decision whether or not to legislate to overturn the House of Lords decision in Rothwell was expected before the summer recess but it appears there is a bigger plan afoot.

Straw told the commons that the Government was 'actively considering measures to make the United Kingdom a global leader in research on the alleviation, prevention and cure of asbestos related diseases'. In addition the Government was looking into ways 'to help speed up compensation claims for those who develop serious asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma'.

He explained that the government was in particular concerned with the process of tracing employment and insurance records and wanted to assist victims where records were missing.

England is now lagging behind Scotland where the Scottish Parliament acted quickly to overturn the House of Lords ruling. It is believed that ex-gratia payments are being considered to all England pleural plaque suffers of around £5,000, to be funded by the tax payer. This is likely to apply to cases currently on hold in the court system, believed to number 6,500 however this will put a further strain on the public purse, hence the delay.