£85m fund set up for soaring asbestos claims

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The London Pensions Fund Authority is putting aside the cash following estimates that the number of cases will rise to 25 a year and total more than 400 by 2035.

The organisation deals with about 12 claims a year over asbestos-related illness. But a landmark legal case has led to theauthority paying out over a teacher who was not shown to have had direct contact with the substance.

The widower of teacher Joan Henry who died from mesothelioma - a cancer linked to asbestos - received £180,000 in an out-of-court settlement in July.

Mrs Henry died in 2007 aged 57 after a 30-year career. She had worked in two east London schools whose buildings contained asbestos.

It was the first time the fund, which is responsible for former staff of the Inner London Education Authority and GLC has paid compensation in a case that did not involve a manual labourer who had direct exposure to asbestos.

Mrs Henry's husband Stephen, 59, from Hornchurch, said he believed the "floodgates" could open for new claims, but feared the fund might have to be even bigger. "I hope that this case will help others receive compensation if they suffer similar tragedies," he said.

"And what about the pupils? Parents need to know their children could be affected by this. Most Inner London Education Authority schools built around the same time had a similar amount of asbestos. Central government knows this stuff is there."

The schools Mrs Henry worked - St Philip Howard in Poplar and Chase Cross in Romford - have both closed.

About 2,100 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. Lib-Dem MP Paul Rowen carried out research that suggested up to 90 per cent of school buildings still contain asbestos.

A spokesman for Havering council, which employed Mrs Henry, said: "We can't speculate on potential cases in the future."