1.  At the end of September 2007 the Coal Health Compensation Schemes had settled almost 650,000 claims but some 128,000 cases were still waiting settlement, some of which had waited up to ten years or more. The Department and its contractors, working with solicitors, should retain sufficient numbers of skilled staff to settle the remaining claims as soon as possible.

2.  The Department did not undertake a systematic appraisal of the alternatives to a court-based scheme. Prior to the court's judgement, it had considered the possibility of putting the schemes on a statutory footing, where Parliament rather than the courts would determine the schemes' rules, but did not take this or other possible options further.

3.  The Department did not seek actuarial advice during the planning phase. As a result, it underestimated the likely volume of claims by over 300% and allocated an insufficient number of staff to manage the liability. Departments faced with establishing new compensation schemes should obtain professional actuarial advice to help inform decisions on scheme design and implementation.

4.  For every £2 paid out in compensation more than £1 has been spent on administration. For the COPD scheme, around 69% of claimants receiving compensation got less than the average cost of administering a claim. When drawing up compensation schemes Departments should test fast-track options for dealing with simpler claims to help reduce costs and provide a better service.

5.  The Department's negotiation with solicitors on the original tariff was weak and has led to significant costs. The Department did not include a review clause in its tariffs. Once its initial assumptions proved wrong it found itself locked into an expensive contract.

6.  The Department has recouped about £41.8 million of the £80.6 million it expects to be repaid by solicitors following a recent court ruling on the tariff for dealing with fast-track COPD cases. The Department should take vigorous action to pursue the amounts outstanding.

7.  Some applicants, many of them elderly and ill, have found themselves paying additional charges to solicitors and other firms. In some of these cases the firms did not properly inform claimants at the outset about these extra charges. The Department should continue to press the professional bodies to achieve repayment in full of all inappropriately levied charges.