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Nearly £25.3 million has been paid out to former miners in South Derbyshire since the coal health compensation schemes were set up more than 10 years ago,
Mark, who is chairman of the committee which has scrutinised the claim process for the East Midlands, has been monitoring the progress of the schemes, which were set up in 1999 to compensate miners who had suffered lung disease and Vibration White Finger (VWF).
The scheme is almost complete in the district with only a handful of claims not resolved.
Figures up to the end of last year (2009) show that the district's residents have received about £25.3m since the scheme began.
All the 1,537 claims for VWF have now been settled or withdrawn amounting to £16.03m in pay-outs.
Only four claims out of a total of 3,273 for respiratory disease (known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) have not been settled.
More than over £9.2 m has been paid out.
In 2007 Mark persuaded the National Audit Office to launch a value-for-money investigation into the scheme. The MP told investigators that the schemes had been run with little forethought and with minimal attempts to contain public cost.
The report, published in July 2008, upheld Mark's complaints It stated that the average cost of processing a claim for COPD was £3,200 compared to an average of £1,500 paid out to a claimant.
In addition, it was revealed that more than two thirds of claimants received less than the solicitors, claims administrators and doctors who considered their claims.
Mark, whose team has helped many local people through the claims process, said: "There remain some claims on the edge of this process, particularly concerning those who worked in surface locations who suffered lung damage. They fall outside the process. Discussions have continued on how those might be dealt with. The schemes have taken far too long to deliver compensation - leaving the matter to lawyers on both sides of the argument to resolve details was always going to add both time and cost. Nevertheless these schemes have produced substantial sums in some cases and helpful payments for local people in many others. That has to be welcome."
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Feb 5, 2010 - Coal health pay-outs
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