HC Deb 26 March 1985 vol 76 cc167-70W
Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will break down the national figure for the number of people in receipt of mobility allowance on 31 December 1984 by the length of time for which the awards were made.

Mr. Newton

The information is as follows:

Number
Awards of 1 year 8,330
Over 1 year and up to and including 2 years 22,620
Over 2 years and up to and including 3 years 5,520
Over 3 years and up to and including 4 years 660
Over 4 years, but not up to age 75 18,040
Up to age 75 271,530
Awards for life under the Mobility Allowance (Vehicle Scheme Beneficiaries) Regulations 1977 26,120

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many reviews of mobility allowance there were during the currency of an award in 1984 nationally which were instituted (a) by the insurance officer and (b) by the claimant; and in what proportion and number the allowance with withdrawn.

Mr. Newton

The information is as follows:

Reviews at request of adjudication officer Reviews at request of claimant or his representative
Number 75 287
Number in which allowance withdrawn 54 268
Percentage in which allowance withdrawn 72 93

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will give details of the numbers of decisions there were in 1984 on renewal claims for mobility allowance (a) nationally and (b) in each social security region; and if in each case he will give the proportion and number which were awarded;

(2) if he will give details of the number of decisions made on mobility allowance applications in 1984 (a) nationally and (b) in each social security region; and if he will in each case state the number of decisions in which an award of the allowance was made.

Mr. Newton

The information for Great Britain is as follows:

Initial claims Renewal claims Total
Number of decisions 108,050 23,950 132,000
Number of awards 73,600 19,900 93,500
Percentage awarded 68.1 83.1 70.8

I regret that separate information is not available for each social security region.

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will break down by age the numbers of those receiving (a) mobility allowance and (b) attendance allowance; and if he will break down the numbers awarded each allowance during 1984 in the same way.

Mr. Newton

The available information is as follows:

Mobility Allowance*
Age Recipients of mobility allowance
Up to 9 7,260
10 – 14 9,600
15 – 19 10,820
20 – 24 11,095
25 – 29 9,390
30 – 34 10,770
35 – 39 15,380
40 – 44 17,920
45 – 49 23,990
50 – 54 35,245
55 – 59 54,410
60 – 64 79,630
65 – 69 49 435
70 – 74 1,260
Total 336,205

Age Recipients of mobility allowance under the Mobility Allowance (Vehicle Scheme Beneficiaries) Regulations 1977
Under 16 3
16 – 19 4
20 – 24 19
25 – 29 635
30 – 34 1,290
35 – 39 2,035
40 – 44 1,810
45 – 49 1,955
50 – 54 2,315
55 – 59 2,970
60 – 64 4,055
65 – 69 3,365
70 – 74 2,915
75 – 79 1,730
80 – 84 660
85 and over 250
Total 26,011
* Numbers at 11 March 1985

I regret that information about the number of awards of mobilty allowance is not available by age groups.

Attendance Allowance
Age Recipients of attendance allowance
2 – 15 57,000
16 – 19 13,000
20 – 24 15,000
25 – 29 11,000
30 – 34 10,000
35 – 39 10,000
40 – 44 9,000
45 – 49 10,000
50 – 54 13,000

Age Recipients of attendance allowance
55 – 59 20,000
60 – 64 30,000
65 – 69 33,000
70 – 74 47,000
75 – 79 54,000
80 – 84 56,000
85 and over 81,000
Total 469,000

Age Awards in 1984
2 – 15 10,138
16 – 19 1,016
20 – 24 1,003
25 – 29 1,111
30 – 34 1,473
35 – 39 1,941
40 – 44 2,259
45 – 49 3,119
50 – 54 4,541
55 – 59 7,320
60 – 64 11,959
65 – 69 14,052
70 – 74 22,314
75 – 79 28,964
80 – 84 32,160
85 and over 38,400
Total 181,770
† Estimates as at 31 March 1984. the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were in receipt of mobility allowance at 31 December 1984 nationally; and if he will break down the national figure by social security region and the rate per thousand population in each region.

Mr. Newton

The available information is as follows. I regret that it is not possible to give a regional breakdown.

Number in receipt of mobility allowance* Rate per 1,000 population (mid-1983 estimates)
England 281,940 6.0
Scotland 40,515 7.9
Wales 30,365 10.8
* Includes recipients under the Mobility Allowance (Vehicle Scheme Beneficiaries) Regulations 1977.

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Total decisions made in each year on initial claims 85,730 60,770 88,100 106,800 108,050
Total decisions resulting in disallowance 25,550 19,330 29,100 36,950 34,450

Details of appeals and references to local tribunals on the non-medical conditions for mobility allowance in the years to 1983 are given in "Social Security Statistics 1984", table 15.20. It is not possible to break down the information into social security regions. Equivalent details for 1984 are not yet available.

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services in the case of initial and renewal claims for mobility allowance, how many appeals by claimants from a decision of an insurance officer were decided upon by medical boards and how many appeals from a decision of a medical board were decided upon by a medical appeal tribunal in 1984; and in each case what number was successful.

Mr. Newton

The available information is as follows:

Numbers
Appeals and references decided by medical board 14,750
Decided in claimant's favour 4,800
Appeals decided by medical appeal tribunal 3,933
Decided in claimant's favour 1,107

I regret that it is not possible to identify initial and renewal claims separately.

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average length of time between receipt of a claim for mobility allowance and the issue of an order book (a) when the allowance is awarded on the initial application, (b) when it is awarded by a medical board and (c) when it is awarded by a medical appeal tribunal on appeal from a board.

Mr. Newton

The time taken from receipt of a claim for mobility allowance until an order book is received by a successful claimant is about eight and a half weeks where the award is made by the adjudication officer on the basis of a report by an examining medical practitioner, and about 16 weeks where the allowance is awarded by a medical board. Such information is not available about claims which go on appeal either to a medical board or to a medical appeal tribunal because the length of time between the disallowance of a claim and the making of the appeal varies so widely. However, the average time taken by a medical board or medical appeal tribunal to deal with an appeal is five and a half weeks and 99 18 weeks respectively.

Mr. Clay

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims have been made for mobility allowance; how many claims for mobility allowance have been rejected; how many appeals to local tribunals against decision to reject payment of mobility allowance have been made; and how many of these appeals have been found in favour of the claimant in each of the social security regions, in each of the past five years.

Mr. Newton

The available information is as follows: