§ Mr. Dunnettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why officers dealing with supplementary benefits are being forced to keep some applicants waiting for as long as 10 days for a decision; and what is the median period between the receipt of an application and a visit and/or a decision by officers in Nottingham and for comparison in other cities of comparable size.
§ Mr. DeanThe great majority of supplementary benefit claimants receive decisions within seven working days, but there are inevitably delays in a minority of cases. Among the causes are variations in numbers of claims and in the time taken to contact and obtain information from claimants. Nottingham does not differ significantly from other comparable cities in this respect.