HC Deb 11 January 1999 vol 323 cc8-11
5. Mr. David Rendel (Newbury)

When the benefit integrity project will be abolished. [63188]

14. Mr. Andrew Dismore (Hendon)

If he will make a statement about the future of the benefit integrity project. [63201]

The Minister of State, Department of Social Security (Mr. Stephen Timms)

The benefit integrity project will be replaced by a new system of review which will be sensitive to people's circumstances and fair, as it will provide for awards to be increased as well as decreased in line with entitlement. We shall introduce the new system as soon as possible and expect to have it in place by April at the latest. Our priority is not to rush the change, but rather to ensure through consultation, in particular with the disability benefits forum, that the new system operates successfully.

Mr. Rendel

May I be the first to congratulate the Minister on his promotion to his new position? We welcomed the news that the benefit integrity project was to be cancelled, but surely it is unnecessary to wait until the new system is in place. The Secretary of State said in his original announcement that the project had been a failure and that it had caused great anxiety to disabled people, so should it not go straight away? The benefit integrity project should be cancelled today.

Mr. Timms

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his congratulations. We shall end the benefit integrity project as soon as we have a replacement that is acceptable. The Social Security Committee, which is chaired by the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood), has done some excellent work on the subject and has suggested—rightly, in my view—that the Department should be much more active in reviewing the benefit once it is awarded. It would therefore be a backward step if, as the hon. Member for Newbury (Mr. Rendel) suggests, we were to end all checking for a period and go back to the position that prevailed before last April, when nothing was checked at all.

We want to continue checking, but to make sure that we have a new arrangement. We have had one meeting already with the working group of the disability benefits forum which has been set up to consider the matter. That meeting was extremely useful, and I am hopeful that by April, and possibly before, we will have a checking system that commands widespread support, as the benefit integrity project did not.

Mr. Dismore

I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend on his promotion. Many of my constituents with disabilities will welcome the Government's commitment to getting rid of the benefit integrity project. I look forward to its going in April, but there is some concern about what will replace it. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that whatever replaces the benefit integrity project aims at providing the right amount of benefit, which on review may mean benefits going up or down? Can my hon. Friend give my constituents an assurance that the Benefits Agency staff will be properly trained to administer the system fairly and effectively?

Mr. Timms

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his congratulations and also for drawing attention to the widespread support for the Government's announcement ending the benefit integrity project. I can confirm that the emphasis of the new system will be on correctness—on making sure that the benefit paid is correct at the outset, and that it continues to be maintained correctly thereafter. That means that benefit payments will be increased if entitlement warrants it, and not simply decreased, as was overwhelmingly the case under the benefit integrity project. I agree with my hon. Friend that the training of staff to administer the new system will be of paramount importance. We are considering carefully how we can make sure that we get it right.

Mrs. Angela Browning (Tiverton and Honiton)

Does the Minister understand that the average number of cases going to appeal in my constituency show that three out of four people get the mobility component of disability living allowance under the benefit integrity project restored on appeal? What will the Government do about the people who lost their Motability cars and have now had that benefit legally restored, but can no longer find the money to put down the deposit on a car to replace the one that they lost?

I welcome the Minister to the Front Bench and hope that he will give me a better answer than the Prime Minister gave to the same question in July. I circulated the Prime Minister's reply to my constituents going to appeal, and they were not at all impressed with his answer.

Mr. Timms

I thank the hon. Lady for that part of her question which was good wishes and welcome. She makes a fair point that, under the arrangements put in place by the previous Government for the benefit integrity project, many reductions in benefit were overturned on appeal. I am pleased to tell her, however, that the rate of appeals that are upheld has consistently increased because of the steps taken by this Government to improve the evidence available to adjudication officers. Motability has put in place an arrangement that allows people to keep their cars while a reduction in benefit is under review. That has been a helpful measure. If it is established that someone is not entitled to the high Motability component, it is not appropriate to continue payment of that benefit and the car that goes with it.

Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich)

My hon. Friend will be aware that any period of doubt about disability payments is of great concern to those involved. It is tremendously important that the Department does everything accurately. Is he totally satisfied that the information technology available and the new systems coming on stream are capable of handling the detailed work that is essential to the fairness of such decisions?

Mr. Timms

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance and sensitivity of those matters. We must ensure that we get them right. We undoubtedly need to introduce improvements in information technology and the Accord programme—the access to corporate data procurement project—on which we have embarked will enable us to do that. I am confident that increasingly we shall be able to offer the active, modern service to which the Government aspire in order to meet the aspirations of my hon. Friend's constituents and people throughout the country.

Mrs. Margaret Ewing (Moray)

I welcome the Minister to the Dispatch Box and the announcement of the abolition of the benefit integrity project, which has been widely despised and has caused much stress to individuals throughout the country. Does the Minister have figures that show the administrative costs of running the project so far? What savings does he think have been made, and will there be a ring-fenced budget for the training of staff, who will have to deal with extremely sensitive issues?

Mr. Timms

I should be happy to write to the hon. Lady with those figures, which have been published and are readily available. I agree about the importance of training, and we are paying great attention to training for the new system. I am confident that we shall have the resources that we need to get that right so that our checking system commands widespread support, not least among disabled people and the organisations of and for disabled people. The benefit integrity project manifestly did not command that support.