ENERGY Minister Brian Wilson (pictured) says he is on track to meet his pledge to the Argus of making 50,000 full and final lung disease offers to former miners by the end of the year. And new figures show that four constituencies in Gwent have seen some of the biggest increases in payouts in the UK to former pitmen since October.

The Argus has campaigned for three years for the compensation process to be speeded up for sick and dying miners and their families.

The new statistics show that in Caerphilly, £4.5 million was paid out for chest diseases between last October and the end of June, bringing the total paid to £8,768,055. In nearby Islwyn, the amount paid in compensation almost doubled in the same period of time to £7,502,522.

Blaenau Gwent saw nearly £3.7 million paid out during those eight months, bringing the total payouts there to £7,413,785.

And in Torfaen more than £900,000 has been paid out since October, meaning £2,009,067 has been paid out there.

Including total payouts of £232,868 in Newport and £374,662 in Monmouthshire, ex-miners with chest diseases have been compensated a total of £25,210,552 in Gwent. Mr Wilson said that since his pledge to the Argus at the end of October, 25,000 offers had been made.

He reaffirmed his pledge in letters to MPs, providing a full update of progress in each of their constituencies.

Mr Wilson said: "I am 100 per cent committed to our clear aim of making 50,000 full and final offers by the end of this year.

"Though we're firmly on course, I will not ease up the drive towards this target or our end goal of fully compensating, as speedily and fairly as possible, every single miner who has given their health and sometimes their lives to provide this nation with fuel."

He added: "We're currently paying out damages at a rate of nearly £680 a minute on respiratory diseases alone. Over 1,200 medical assessments and over 1,000 full and final offers are made each week.

"But with over 194,000 claims registered and 807 new claims still being registered each week, this is still the biggest undertaking of its kind ever, anywhere in the world."