§ 43. Mr. Woodhouseasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will introduce amendments to the National Insurance Act (Old Persons and Widows Pensions and Attendance Allowance), 1970, to enable the attendance allowance to be extended to a wider range of severely handicapped people who are suffering continued financial hardship as a result of the rejection of their applications.
§ 44. Dr. Gilbertasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now take steps to amend the conditions surrounding the granting of constant attendance allowances.
§ 70. Mrs. Doris Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what further consideration he has given to the continuing hardship of severely handicapped people who do not qualify for the attendance allowance because they do not require prolonged attention during the night; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir K. JosephI cannot add to my reply to similar Questions on 21st December, 1971.—[Vol. 828, c. 1284–6.]
Number of claims received (approximate) Number of applicants who initially failed to satisfy the medical conditions (approximate) 4th January, 15th February, 4th January, 15th February, Regional Centre 1972 1972 1972 1972 Scotland … 10,700 11,900 4,200 5,200 Wales … 10,400 11,800 3,700 5,100 Northern … 7,900 8,800 2,600 3,100 Yorkshire and Humberside … 10,700 11,900 3,800 4,600 East Midlands and East Anglia … 11,600 13,100 2,800 3,800 London North … 9,700 10,900 2,500 3,400 London South … 13,400 14,900 3,200 4,200 London West … 10,600 11,800 2,700 3,900 South Western … 8,900 10,000 3,100 4,000 West Midlands … 9,600 10,700 4,000 5,200 North Western (Manchester) … 8,600 9,700 2,500 3,300 North Western (Liverpool) … 8,900 10,000 3,300 3,800 TOTALS … 121,000 135,500 38,400 49,600
§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many letters he has received from hon. Members in the last two months complaining about rejection of claims for the new attendance allowance of £4.80 per week; how many such cases have been reviewed; and what allowance was awarded.
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§ Mr. Strangasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the figures are at the latest available date of applications for attendance allowance, of applicants who initially failed to satisfy the medical conditions, of applications for a review and unsuccessful reviewed cases, and what is the breakdown of the figures for the regional centres in England and for Scotland and Wales, and how they compare with the figures for 31 st December, 1971.
§ Mr. DeanAt 4th January about 121,000 claims had been received, 38,400 applicants had initially failed to satisfy the medical conditions, over 10,000 had applied for a review, and nearly 1,400 of the 6,200 whose applications for review had been dealt with had failed to satisfy the conditions at the review stage. The corresponding figures for 15th February are 135,500, 49,600, 14,500 and 2,400, respectively. A breakdown for Scotland and Wales and for each of the 10 English regional centres can only be given in respect of the number of claims received and the number of applicants who initially failed to satisfy the medical conditions.
The figures are as follows:
§ Sir K. JosephIn the last two months about 240 letters have been sent to my hon. Friend and myself by hon. Members concerning individual claims to attendance allowance which have been disallowed. It would not be possible, without undue expenditure and effort, to obtain the other information asked for by the hon. Member; but representations 249W from hon. Members and direct from applicants do of course in appropriate cases lead to review action.